{"id":858,"date":"2026-06-18T07:08:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=858"},"modified":"2026-06-18T07:08:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:08:35","slug":"the-pressure-to-have-baby-boys-can-harm-african-mothers-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=858","title":{"rendered":"The pressure to have baby boys can harm African mothers\u2019 health"},"content":{"rendered":"
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KINSHASA, Congo (AP) \u2014 When Prosper Mbumba married, he expected to have only two children. But one had to be a son. Four daughters later, he and his wife were still trying.<\/p>

Read more A special election in the UK could hasten the rise of Andy Burnham and the end for Keir Starmer<\/a><\/p>

Mbumba was eager to produce a male heir according to the customary demands of his Luba people in Congo<\/span>.<\/p>

\u201cIn my tribe, in my culture, that was like an insult, having only daughters,\u201d the human rights activist said. \u201cI should do my best to get more children, expecting to have a boy.\u201d<\/p>

He and his wife, R\u00e9gine Ntumba, said they were relieved when the first of two sons was born. Mbumba, sitting with his wife in an open-air bar in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa, described finally feeling a \u201clittle satisfied.\u201d<\/p>

Ntumba, a housewife, said she was \u201cvery happy to learn that finally I have a boy.\u201d<\/p>

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This is part of a series on maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, which has the world\u2019s fastest-growing population and accounts for 70% of global maternal deaths. Around 180,000 pregnancy deaths are recorded every year across the continent.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Africa has the world\u2019s fastest-growing population. But many of those births occur in conditions that would be challenging anywhere in the world, from the lack of medical workers on hand<\/span> to limited resources for managing complicated births, especially in rural areas. Africa accounts for 70% of global maternal deaths, according to the World Health Organization, even as those deaths have been declining.<\/p>\n

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The Associated Press is exploring why so many African women continue to die in childbirth. The reasons exist before pregnancy, including difficulties in obtaining contraception. And now some of the continent\u2019s most prominent donors, especially the United States under the Trump administration, are sharply pulling back on the assistance that helps to keep mothers and babies safe.<\/p>\n

Families\u2018 keep trying\u2019 for boys, putting some women at risk<\/h2>

Complicating the risks for women in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa is the pressure \u2014 heaped more on women than men \u2014 to produce male heirs to perpetuate clan lines.<\/p>

Because daughters often marry men from different clans or tribes, sons are seen as necessary to sustain their forefathers\u2019 legacies. The belief is so entrenched that many women accept it as justified, even if repeated pregnancies endanger their health.<\/p>

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