Family Planning in Asia and the Pacific - International Council on ...

family plann<strong>in</strong>g programmes were controversial.The ethnographic evidence provides little doubt that birthcontrol was widely practised across <strong>the</strong> <strong>Pacific</strong> prior tosusta<strong>in</strong>ed contact with external societies (Tesfaghiorghis,1995; Lucas <strong>and</strong> Ware, 1981; Connell, 1977; Borrie etal., 1957; McDowell, 1988; Bulmer, 1971). Methods of<strong>in</strong>duc<strong>in</strong>g abortion were well known <strong>and</strong> applied acrossall subregions, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>gestion of herbal potions<strong>and</strong> massage. Various concoctions made from herbs or <strong>the</strong>bark of particular species of trees were used as a meansof prevent<strong>in</strong>g conception, although some of <strong>the</strong>se methodsmay have resulted <strong>in</strong> sterility (Bulmer, 1971). Whenadditional births were considered a threat to family <strong>and</strong>community survival, <strong>in</strong>fanticide was practised. This alsooccurred when tw<strong>in</strong>s were born because breastfeed<strong>in</strong>g twochildren placed particular stra<strong>in</strong> on <strong>the</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r <strong>and</strong> placedboth children at risk (Connell, 1977). The survival of onechild required <strong>the</strong> sacrifice of <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r.The widest range of practices probably occurred <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>small, resource-poor atolls or isl<strong>and</strong>s. For example, <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>t<strong>in</strong>y Polynesian atoll of Tikopia, studied by <strong>the</strong> em<strong>in</strong>entanthropologist Sir Raymond Firth, community leadersproclaimed that “<strong>the</strong> heads must be measured aga<strong>in</strong>st <strong>the</strong>food” (Firth, 1936). Methods to achieve this <strong>in</strong>cludedprevent<strong>in</strong>g some young men from marry<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>expulsion of o<strong>the</strong>rs from <strong>the</strong> isl<strong>and</strong> to seek new l<strong>and</strong>. Thesetypes of practices are a form of population control underconditions of extreme resource scarcity.A number of o<strong>the</strong>r social practices had <strong>the</strong> effect of keep<strong>in</strong>gfertility rates significantly lower than <strong>the</strong>y would o<strong>the</strong>rwisehave been, regardless of whe<strong>the</strong>r this was a conscious<strong>in</strong>tention. Extremely long periods of breastfeed<strong>in</strong>g (up tofive years) were common <strong>in</strong> pre-contact <strong>Pacific</strong> culturesow<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong> absence of suitable wean<strong>in</strong>g foods. Thisresulted <strong>in</strong> long periods of lactational amenorrhea <strong>and</strong>subfecundity. There was also a widespread belief thatsexual <strong>in</strong>tercourse should be avoided while breastfeed<strong>in</strong>gbecause of potential contam<strong>in</strong>ation of breast milk bysemen, result<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> child becom<strong>in</strong>g sick. The length ofpost-partum abst<strong>in</strong>ence could extend up to five years <strong>in</strong>some Melanesian societies (Heider, 1976), probably <strong>the</strong>longest to be observed <strong>in</strong> any pre-contact culture area.Post-partum abst<strong>in</strong>ence was facilitated <strong>in</strong> part by residentialpatterns. In most parts of western Melanesia, men did notlive with <strong>the</strong>ir wives <strong>and</strong> children but lived separately <strong>in</strong>men’s houses (sometimes called “long houses”) along witholder sons. Similar residence patterns are recorded <strong>in</strong>Polynesian atolls (Carroll, 1975). Women lived separatelywith <strong>the</strong>ir daughters <strong>and</strong> younger children. Women werealso isolated from o<strong>the</strong>rs dur<strong>in</strong>g menstruation <strong>and</strong> lived <strong>in</strong>special houses dur<strong>in</strong>g this time. Male homosexuality hasbeen reported <strong>in</strong> some areas as provid<strong>in</strong>g a separate sexualoutlet. Richer <strong>and</strong> higher-status men who had multiplewives had access to o<strong>the</strong>r sexual partners when one wifewas pregnant or breastfeed<strong>in</strong>g. In some areas of Melanesia,long post-partum abst<strong>in</strong>ence was not associated withhomosexuality, adultery or polygyny (Heider, 1976), butpolygyny is generally associated with long post-partumabst<strong>in</strong>ence <strong>and</strong> lower fertility (Hern, 1992).Ano<strong>the</strong>r practice that limited fertility was late marriage.Marriage <strong>in</strong> many parts of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Pacific</strong> required, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>some areas still does, <strong>the</strong> payment of “bride price”. Bridewealthis normally paid <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> form of pigs, but for a manto accumulate <strong>the</strong> necessary number of pigs (typically five)would require several years, thus delay<strong>in</strong>g his marriage.O<strong>the</strong>r ceremonial gifts may also be required <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>sewould take time to accumulate. In some parts of Melanesia,<strong>the</strong> birth of a child would also require a payment to <strong>the</strong>mo<strong>the</strong>r’s family. Should <strong>the</strong> fa<strong>the</strong>r be unable to make <strong>the</strong>payment he would rema<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>debted to his wife’s family <strong>and</strong>would lose social status. Such conditions would tend tolimit <strong>and</strong> space births by whatever means were available.The cont<strong>in</strong>uation of many traditional social practices thatlimited fertility <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> modern era is most evident <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>highl<strong>and</strong>s of Papua New Gu<strong>in</strong>ea, <strong>the</strong> last culture area of<strong>the</strong> <strong>Pacific</strong> to experience contact with <strong>the</strong> outside world 7 .An important feature of <strong>the</strong>se practices was an underly<strong>in</strong>gbelief <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> capacity of women to “pollute” men, <strong>and</strong> anassociated belief that male warrior spirit could be dangerousto children. These beliefs, which cont<strong>in</strong>ue to some extent,had <strong>the</strong> effect of keep<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> sexes separate <strong>and</strong> antagonisticto each o<strong>the</strong>r. Some anthropologists have l<strong>in</strong>ked male fearof female pollution with resource scarcity, suggest<strong>in</strong>g that“fear of pollution is a form of ideological birth control”(L<strong>in</strong>denbaum cited <strong>in</strong> Faithorn, 1975) 8 . In any case, <strong>the</strong>ritual avoidance of sexual <strong>in</strong>tercourse dur<strong>in</strong>g a wide rangeof occasions (before go<strong>in</strong>g fish<strong>in</strong>g, while conduct<strong>in</strong>g war,or dur<strong>in</strong>g plant<strong>in</strong>g or harvest<strong>in</strong>g, for example) would havelimited fertility but only to <strong>the</strong> extent that coital frequencyis l<strong>in</strong>ked to <strong>the</strong> probability of conception.In some Polynesian societies a high value was placed onpremarital virg<strong>in</strong>ity, particularly among women of highstatus. This practice probably reached an extreme <strong>in</strong> Samoa,where <strong>the</strong> ceremonial virg<strong>in</strong> (taupou) was honoured (Pirie,2000). Elsewhere, <strong>the</strong> age at which women commencedsexual relations was largely determ<strong>in</strong>ed by age at menarche.In Melanesia, <strong>the</strong> age of menarche was much older <strong>in</strong>traditional times than it is today due to <strong>the</strong> limited amountof prote<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> a diet dom<strong>in</strong>ated by root crops. As prote<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>take <strong>in</strong>creased with higher consumption of meat <strong>and</strong>more equal access to prote<strong>in</strong> between men <strong>and</strong> women 9 ,<strong>the</strong> age at menarche steadily decl<strong>in</strong>ed.As a consequence of <strong>the</strong> wide range of social practicesacross <strong>the</strong> <strong>Pacific</strong> that were ei<strong>the</strong>r consciously <strong>in</strong>tended73