Stunting and the Grande Multipara Phenomenon From the Gender Perspective

Abstract

Stunting is a form of malnutrition caused by inadequate food intake, repeated infections, and lack of psychosocial stimulation. It has an impact on growth and development disorders but is more accurately referred to as undernutrition. In this regard, the role of the mother is important and problems that occur during pregnancy are very likely to contribute to stunting. This study aimed to describe stunting and the grande multipara phenomenon from a gender perspective. A qualitative approach was used to explore in-depth information about the behavior of pregnant women, parity and exclusive breastfeeding at Panglima Sebaya Hospital in July 2019. Based on the results of interviews with pregnant women, most knew about exclusive breastfeeding because health workers often provided counseling to mothers during and after pregnancy. However, mothers with multiple parity / grande multipara had difficulty carrying out exclusive breastfeeding because the time between the children was close. The village midwife informant said that many pregnant women have used family planning, especially the millennial generation; they have been exposed to a lot of media including social media, and many are independent, can decide for themselves to use family planning and choose the method of family planning. Stunting and grande multipara are closely related to gender inequality in the domestic environment. Keywords: stunting, grande multipara, gender, breastfeeding