Anthropological Study of Religiosity and Social Health with Emphasis on Fertility Beliefs and Rituals: A Case Study of Women in Ilam, Iran

 Pregnancy is one of the sensitive and special stages that is always accompanied by religious rituals for the comfort and health of the mother and baby. In fact, many pregnant women assign importance to religious and religious issues during their pregnancy. In this research, fertility rituals and beliefs are described and detailed with religious foundations and anthropological schools.

 The qualitative research paradigm and ethnography method were used in this study. The target population included all married women of Ilam city, who had experienced at least one pregnancy. 25 participants were selected using method snowball sampling method; the number of participants was determined through the principle of saturation. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interests.

 The obtained results show that religious beliefs and rituals, while reducing the stress and depression of childbirth, cause mental peace, vitality and cheerfulness in pregnant women. Performing religious rites such as sacrifice, placing Quran and supplications on the head of the baby and the woman in order to ward off the jinn, giving the baby a taste of Imam Hussain's (pbuh) soil, cutting the placenta and throwing it on the roof of the mosque are all indicative of an intimate connection between traditional beliefs and rituals and religious beliefs.

 The entry of women into the society and their acceptance in these traditional societies is only associated with fertility and the acceptance of the baby is also accompanied by the performance of rituals and with certain religious and folk beliefs to enter the society. Some of the religious rituals and recommendations in relation to pregnancy, infertility or abortion are in accordance with the views of Islamic thinkers, which shows that medical materials are passed down to the general public by words of mouth.