childbearing as a dualism of risk and certainty: The results of a qualitative study in the Yazd province

Fertility in Iran and many provinces has reached low levels. Yazd province is one of the few provinces that experiences fertility above the replacement level (about 2.3 children) in recent years. The reasons for the higher fertility of this province have become important at both micro and macro levels. The main purpose of this study is to identify the interpretation and understanding of Yazdi women about chldbearing. The approach of this research is qualitative. The participants were 25 married women from Yazd city, who were selected by purposeful sampling in 2017. Data analysis was done with qualitative content analysis technique, The core category is"childbearing as a dualism of risk and certainty" which is derived from the two main categories of "giving meaning and assurance and the risks of childbearing". The findings show that the economic, social and cultural background and religious values play a role in the fertility decisions . Despite knowing and paying attention to the risk of having children, they consider it a source of security and good and blessing and family and religious values.This approach and people's understanding of having children has prevented them from becoming childless and having only one child. However, the continuation of this situation in the future depends on the socio-economic context of the country and the province, and the adoption of government policies and support for young couples and families and facilitating the conditions of marriage and childbearing will guarantee the continuation of these conditions.