Ìyá as a status and a philosophical category, the world's highest twinning rate and what the Yoruba built on it, what infertility actually costs a woman, àbíkú and the medical evidence behind it, and the ìyá abiye who delivered the children.
Machine na im translate dis page and no person don check am. The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, the meanings and the citations dey exactly as the original. Everything else fit wrong.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
To born pikin na di main tin wey dey determine how Yoruba woman position dey for society. Dis na plain statement of wetin ethnographic record show, and e clear say e no easy to swallow beside all di stories about how Yoruba women get autonomy, even di ones inside dis section, but e no mean say di autonomy no dey. Woman fit be trader wey get her own capital, chief wey hold title, priestess wey king dey kneel down for her front, but still find out say na wetin she born or she no born dey control her position inside di compound wey she dey live.
Dis file dey look motherhood as status, as philosophical category, and as physical event, and e dey bring out wetin evidence document instead of wetin tradition dey talk about itself wen e dey praise itself pass. Di material about twins na art and religion dem treat am as inside Ìbejì and Ìbejì figures; for here, dem look am according to demography and as duty wey fall on top mothers.
Normally, dem dey translate Ìyá as "mother", but dis translation no complete at all, and people don seriously argue about am.
Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí book, What Gender is Motherhood? Changing Yorùbá Ideals of Power, Procreation, and Identity in the Age of Modernity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), carry her earlier argument enter dis area and propose matripotency as di name for wetin ìyá mean: di spiritual and material authority of ìyá wey dey come from di role of born-pikin, wit di relationship between ìyá and her own biological pikin as di strongest way e dey show . Her structural point na say dis matripotent ethos connect tight wit di seniority system, since ìyá senior her children by definition and every human being get one, so nobody fit senior dia own ìyá . Her complain against di English translation na say "mother" no fit carry di main meaning and e dey spoil am .
Two tins dey about dis argument wey make sense to separate.
Di tin wey she observe about seniority get solid ground and person fit see am everywhere for di material. Dem dey use Ìyá as word to call person and show respect well beyond biological motherhood: di Ìyálóde, di Ìyálọ́jà, di Ìyálòrìṣà, di Ìyámọdè, àwọn ìyá wa. For each case, di word dey show position of authority, no be biological fact of pikin-bearing. Di Ìyámọdè, di Aláàfin dey call am father; her title carry ìyá even though her relation position na father own. Di word dey travel.
Di bigger claim say na ìyá, instead of "woman", be di main category for Yoruba social organisation and say make dem replace di whole gender analysis system wit am, na tin wey people dey drag on top di same ground as Oyěwùmí earlier work. See Gender. Di summary wey di reviewer write about What Gender is Motherhood? inside Journal of African History dey important make reader look am, to see how far di argument reach .
Wetin people no dey drag na di main observation wey dey under am. Ìyá dey call authority, and dat authority dey come from procreative relation. Na dat exact reason make woman wey no born dey inside di kind position wey di rest of dis file describe.
Yoruba people get di highest twinning rate wey dem don ever record for any human population, and dis special case na real tin, no be just folklore or story.
Di rates na dizygotic, wey mean fraternal twins instead of identical twins, and di monozygotic rate na basically di normal baseline for human beings. Di work wey Nylander do prove say monozygotic twinning rates wey dem measure wit sex, placentation and blood-group markers no really different across Nigerian ethnic groups, and say di difference for overall twinning na almost completely difference for dizygotic rate .
Di numbers, from di review inside di PLOS One study of Igbo-Ora:
| Population | Twins per 1,000 births |
|---|---|
| Igbo-Ora (Yoruba) | 45 |
| Yoruba, Western Nigeria (range) | 33 to 66.5 |
| Hausa, Northern Nigeria | 19.4 |
| Western Europe, 1970s | 9 to 11 |
| Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore | 5 to 6 |
Igbo-Ora, for Ọ̀yọ́ State, get di highest recorded dizygotic twinning rate for di whole world at about 45 for every 1,000 live births . Nylander record 45 to 50 sets for every 1,000 births for dia in 1969 . Based on dis figures, chance dey between four and ten times say Yoruba woman go born twins pass European woman of dat same period.
Nylander dietary hypothesis, 1978. Say sometin inside Yoruba food, especially yam, dey make follicle-stimulating hormone plenty for blood and so e dey raise di rate of double ovulation . Na dis hypothesis enter popular writing and people don repeat am everywhere like say na confirmed fact. E never confirm.
Di community own explanations. Di PLOS One study ask question and find three explanations: say God create Igbo-Ora people specially to born twins; heredity, wey dem describe as rope or bond of twins inside di population; and food, wit ìlásà, okra leaves, wey rank highest, wey dem dey eat wit àmàlà, plus di local water . Di finding wey di authors highlight na say yam, wey scientific hypothesis focus on for forty years, no rank high for wetin di community demsef talk, and di authors suggest say dis na reason to reduce di weight wey dem give research wey focus on yam .
Genetics. How dis high rate balance across Yoruba populations and how e still continue among populations of Yoruba descendants for other places dey point say genetics join hand for di chance to get double ovulation. Na dis one be di mainstream understanding, and e no mean say food no contribute.
Di position of di corpus: di rate get solid record and e special well-well, di actual cause never confirm, and di yam explanation na 1978 hypothesis wey people don dey repeat as fact for half a century.
Society wey get this kain rate of to dey born twins must get settled cultural way to respond, and the Yoruba response na one of the most elaborate for the whole world. E no always dey positive. Historical record get traditions of twin infanticide for some Yoruba areas before, wey dem later change, and that change self na part of Ìbejì origin story; dem treat that history for Ìbejì.
Wetin fall on the mama specifically na set of obligations wey dey continue. The ìyá ìbejì, the mama of twins, get ritual duties wey she must do for the twins throughout their life, and if one or both of dem die, for the ère ìbejì, the carved figures wey stand for dem. She dey feed, wash, dress, and carry the figures. She dey dance and sing for the twins for public and she dey collect gifts and cowries when she do am, and the twin-mama begging song na recognized form. The PLOS One authors note the celebration, where dem cook beans for the twins and sing special songs of praise, and dem suggest say this veneration fit encourage to dey born twins through community dynamics .
The main point for this file na say to be mama of twins na public office wey get duties wey dey repeat and recognized entitlement to collect things from the community. Na the single most visible form of ritual standing wey ordinary woman fit get.
Na this be the hardest evidence for this section and person no suppose soften am.
The best study na Okonofua, Harris, Odebiyi, Kane and Snow, "The Social Meaning of Infertility in Southwest Nigeria", Health Transition Review 7 (1997), based on twenty-five focus-group discussions for rural and urban parts of Ilé-Ifẹ̀ . Their prevalence review report say infertility rates for Nigeria fit reach up to 30 per cent, say population-based data suggest say up to 30 per cent of couples for some parts of Nigeria get confirmed infertility, and say one community-based study of women of reproductive age for Ilé-Ifẹ̀ find out say nearly 20 per cent no fit born . Infertility cases make up between 60 and 70 per cent of consultations for tertiary health institutions .
Make una note say this ones na mostly rates of secondary infertility, wey untreated reproductive tract infection dey largely cause, and e no be say na inherent condition. Make una note too say male factors dey well documented: for one group of couples, eight out of seventeen men wey dem report say their wives no fit born, wey be 47 per cent, get severe semen abnormalities wey fit cause am .
E make sense to lay out the study findings in full because dem specific and because dem come from Nigerian and Nigeria-based researchers wey ask the community directly.
Na women dey take the blame. The authors record say na women dem dey blame pass and say plenty people believe say man no fit infertile, as dem dey see fertility and potency as the same thing .
The common consequence na expulsion. "A common consequence of a couple's infertility is the expulsion of the woman from the husband's house, with or without divorce," and the phrase wey respondents use pass na say the husband go "send her packing" Wetin the authors conclude from this straight na: to get children clearly dey important pass loyalty to spouse .
Then the exclusions dey systematic. The woman go turn outcast and dem go exclude am from inheriting property, from decision-making for the family, and from financial or social security . Her ability to make decisions for the family and to inherit her husband property "almost exclusively dependent upon fertility", and dem fit only allow her such privileges if she behave well and her husband family like her; for her to inherit property, e need written will wey specifically designate property for her . If dem no like her, dem dey pursue am comot the compound when the husband die .
Social avoidance dey follow. People dey avoid women wey dem know say no fit born and mothers dey tell their children make dem avoid dem, either because dem dey fear say the woman fit harm the children out of bitterness or say she no go know how to look after dem .
And the àjẹ́ accusation dey attach directly. A significant number of the focus groups report strong belief say some infertile women na witches wey don born children for another world and take secret vow say dem no go ever born children for earth, belief wey the authors talk say dey justify how dem dey reject and pursue dem; any subsequent misfortune wey happen to the woman or the family, dem go blame am on top her infertility or her witchcraft . This na the same mechanism wey dem describe for Àjẹ́ and Our Mothers, wey dey operate on the woman wey never born instead of the woman wey don accumulate.
To marry again dey constrained. Infertile woman wey divorce fit remarry, but if she stay for the area e fit hard her to find husband unless say the man don old and need person to care for am or e already get other wives with children, and the former husband family fit warn other men away, so moving far away na wetin dem consider best .
Finally, the authors record exploitation during treatment, including one physician account of herbalist wey use sexual intercourse as part of treatment for woman wey her husband get azoospermia, and their explanation say woman fit desperate reach and dey under enough family pressure to submit to such abuse .
The authors summary of how dem dey determine woman fate dey important because e resist simple rule: the consequences no dey follow strict guidelines but e depend on the objective circumstances of her infertility and her position for household, family and community, and on subjective assessment of "how good she is", her past conduct and how she treat in-laws and children of other wives .
Dem dey use three places for treatment, and many times dem dey combine dem: churches and spiritualists, traditional healers, and hospitals . People no dey use hospital treatment reach the others, because of two clear reasons wey make sense: how people dey understand wetin dey cause infertility, and lack of confidentiality for treatment centres . Confidentiality no be small matter for place where serious social wahala dey follow person once people know say the person no fit born.
To consult Ifá, do sacrifice wey diviner prescribe, and beg particular òrìṣà na the older ways wey dem dey use. Na Ọ̀ṣun dem dey connect pass with giving person pikin, and the main thing wey dem dey beg for during Ọ̀ṣun-Òṣogbo festival na pikin; see Ọ̀ṣun. The Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ origin verse sef na fertility story, where Yemọja or Ìyá Nlá no get pikin, e consult Ifá, dem tell am make e dance with wooden image for head and metal anklets for leg, and e come carry belle; see Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́. The tradition wey dem dey celebrate pass as proof say Yoruba people respect women power, start, by im own account, from one woman infertility story.
Àbíkú na name for pikin wey dem believe say dey repeatedly born to the same mother and dey repeatedly die when e still be infant, after e don agree with im spirit companions say e go return. E come from à-bí-kú, person wey dem born to die.
The response na different practices wey dey try make the child stay. The one wey clear pass na naming. Names wey dey protect pikin include Málọmọ, no go again; Dúrójayé, stay enjoy life; Kòkúmọ́, no dey die again; Bánjókòó, sit down with me; Ìgbẹ́kọ̀yí, the bush reject this one; Kòsókó, hoe no dey to dig grave . Some of these names na abuse or names to show say the pikin no get value, based on the thinking say if pikin no get value, the spirit group no go see am as something wey make sense to carry back. Ritual responses include to put marks and scarification for the body, based on the thinking say if the returning child carry the marks, people go recognize am and expose the cycle, plus burial practices wey dem dey do to prevent return .
Clear connection dey between the àbíkú matter and sickle cell disease, and na something wey person must state carefully because e easy to explain badly.
The key study na the one wey Esther Nzewi do, wey dem publish for Social Science & Medicine for 2001, about the Igbo equivalent wey be ogbanje. She look the symptoms wey culture define for 100 children wey dem classify as bad ogbanje, and she check their family history and how children take die for the families. Haemoglobin analysis show say 70 out of the 100 get sickle cell disease, 68 families get names wey relate to death, and wetin culture describe as bad ogbanje match the exact symptoms wey dey show for sickle cell patients .
Na Nigeria carry the highest sickle cell burden for the whole world, as roughly one-quarter of the population carry the trait and around 150,000 affected babies dey born every year . Inside population wey get that kind carrier frequency, two carrier parents get one-in-four chance for every pregnancy to born child with the condition, and sickle cell disease wey dem no treat for that period bin dey kill children when dem still very small. Therefore, couple go dey see repeated infant deaths inside one family, with clear symptoms wey dey repeat, and with normal children between dem. Na exactly that pattern àbíkú dey describe.
Three things to note.
The connection strong but e no cover everything. Sickle cell disease no explain every case, and the high rate of general infant mortality for that period, from malaria, malnutrition, and infectious disease, cause repeated infant deaths inside many families without any single genetic cause behind am.
To talk say àbíkú "na" sickle cell disease na category error. Àbíkú na explanatory framework for pattern of experience. Sickle cell disease na one of the things wey dey produce that pattern. The framework still dey do other work: e dey give parents wey dey mourn an account of wetin happen, set of actions to take, and words to use, and e don generate plenty literature, from J.P. Clark and Wọlé Ṣóyínká's poems to Ben Okri The Famished Road.
And the practical result for mothers that time, wey still remain to some level today, na say the framework dey direct response towards naming and ritual instead of haemoglobin screening. Nigerian public health messaging on premarital genotype testing dey address this exact matter.
The Yoruba traditional birth attendant na the agbẹ̀bí, deliverer of babies, or ìyá abiye, and until the twentieth century na she be the person wey attend almost every Yoruba birth.
The training long and e get formal structure. Olorunnibe and Msindo document apprenticeship of seven to ten years, wey dey start from observation and progress go practical involvement to prepare herbs and learn diagnosis, and dem describe the ìyá abiye as highly respected practitioners wey dey deep inside their communities dey provide antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care, dey use herbal preparations, àgbo, and get spiritual importance inside childbirth practice . Others describe the same training as something wey pass down through generations with high respect for those wey complete am .
The way colonial authority meet this institution follow one documented path, and na the most useful thing inside the literature to understand wetin happen to women specialist knowledge under colonial rule.
For di beginning, missionaries and colonial officials condemn traditional midwifery say e no clean and e no follow science, so dem try to stop am completely. By di 1940s, as healthcare coverage no dey enough for rural areas, as community still dey rely on the ìyá abiye, and colonial resources dey limited, the authorities change mind, and the 1946 Midwives Ordinance formally bring traditional birth attendants enter the maternal healthcare system, wey produce wetin Olorunnibe and Msindo call medical pluralist society . How dem describe the shift na say na practical arrangement instead of say dem truly accept the idea: administrators see say dem no fit stop the practice, so dem register, train, and supervise the practitioners so that dem go fit promote hygiene, emergency referral, and the adoption of Western medicine, through the trust wey people get for ìyá abiye and their existing networks .
As dem implement am, palava come dey wey the authors document: African midwives wey get formal training see the ìyá abiye as competition for work, some traditional practitioners reject hospital rules, and conflict dey over how to intervene during child delivery .
This arrangement still dey continue. Traditional birth attendants still dey deliver plenty babies for southwest, and modern policy approach still dey follow that 1946 logic of integration and referral instead of to replace dem; the Ondó State Agbẹ̀bíyè scheme, wey attendants take dey refer pregnant women go government medical centres, na modern example and dem connect am to reported 75 per cent reduction for maternal deaths for the state . That number come from report about the programme, no be from independent evaluation, and na so dem present am.
Two points dey, and evidence support both of dem.
Motherhood give real authority, and the term for am, ìyá, come turn the general Yoruba word for woman wey hold any kind power, wey be very remarkable thing for language to do and na the strongest evidence for Oyěwùmí later argument.
And that same system bring plenty wahala for woman wey no born pikin, wetin dem document for the 1990s and no be for some far-far past, wey include to pursue her from house, to remove her from inheritance and decision-making, people to dey avoid her for society, and to accuse her of witchcraft. The authority and the punishment na two sides of one arrangement, wey dey value women based on say dem born pikin. Person wey dey find Yoruba past wey dem respect women without condition no go see am here, and person wey dey find past wey women just dey under men completely go miss the Ìyámọdè wey king kneel down for her front.
What aya and ọkọ actually encode, why a married woman never stops belonging to her father's lineage, the politics of co-wives, widowhood and inheritance under Yoruba customary law, and the grounds on which a woman could leave.
What àwọn ìyá wa actually names, why "witch" mistranslates it, the ambivalence built into the power, Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ as the institutional answer to it, and the Atinga witch-hunt of 1950-51 with Apter's cocoa-economy explanation.
Yoruba twins, the highest twinning rate in the world, the ere ibeji figure carved when a twin dies, and the reversal from infanticide to veneration.
The carved figures made when a Yoruba twin dies, what the family does with them, the genuinely exceptional twinning rate that produced them, and how tens of thousands of them ended up in Western collections.
The knowledge system of the onisegun, the categories of oogun, what pharmacological research has and has not confirmed about Yoruba herbal medicine, and the specialist practitioners.
Where Yoruba women stand now: near-total exclusion from elected office alongside high literacy and professional attainment, the market titles absorbed into party politics, the diaspora, and the feminist scholarship Yoruba women have produced.