Childbearing Challenges in Educated Women with Three or More Children and Motivational Strategies

Population and its changes have long been one of the most vital issues of a country. According to the latest data from the Statistics Center, the fertility rate has reached 1.7, which means less than the replacement level, which shows that we are facing the challenge of population decline. Changes in women’s lifestyles and attitudes are one of the most critical factors affecting the issue of fertility. This study investigated the challenges of childbearing in women with three children. This study aimed to find the motivating factors for childbearing. The research was qualitative and phenomenological. For this purpose, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 mothers aged 26-42 years who had three or more children and were selected by the snowball sampling method. According to the analysis of the findings, three main categories, namely barriers to childbearing, motivating factors for childbearing, and expectations to facilitate childbearing, and 10 sub-categories and more than 100 concepts, were obtained The findings indicated that people tend to have lots of children in accordance with their religious beliefs, and in this regard, the financial and emotional support obtained from both families may be an important element. In addition, the husband’s assistance with domestic tasks and child care was a crucial and effective factor for the mother.