Factors Related to Childbearing in Iran: A Systematic Review

Objective:

 Childbearing is valuable in Iranian Islamic culture; in Iran, following the implementation of the comprehensive population control program in the 60s to 90s, the population growth was decreased. Due to the importance of demographic changes in Iran in the last four decades, and the impact of economic, social and cultural factors on childbearing, the present study aims to investigate the related factors of childbearing in Iran.

Methods:

 This is a review study that evaluated the related factors of childbearing in Iran until 2020. A search was conducted in the databases using the keywords “childbearing barriers”, “inhibitors”, "childbearing", " facilitators", "Iran” and " childbearing desire " in Persian and English. The observational studies on the barriers or facilitators of childbearing in Iran were included. The review articles, case reports, brief reports, letters to the editor, and articles in languages other than Persian and English were excluded. There was no restriction on the study year, study city, study population, and samples.

Results :

The initial search yielded 217 articles. After analyzing and deleting the duplicates, 38 articles were remained for analysis. Studies on men and women in different parts of Iran showed that factors such as educational level, socio-economic status, religiosity, job rank, employment, place of residence, ethnicity, age of marriage, parental attitude, familism, and access to contraceptives methods were the related factors of childbearing in Iran

Conclusion:

 There are various barriers and facilitators of childbearing in Iran. The findings can help health policymakers to eliminate the barriers of childbearing and increase the population in Iran.