OK perhaps if I restated some of the thinking that got me here: 1. I believe the healing magic available to almost all Gloranthan cultures is as available and effective as Western medical science. 2. The mortality rates for childbearing women where decent medical facilities are available are so low I would not bother running a contest for it (it would be a special story event its so rare). 3. Therefore if there is a significant threat here worthy of having a contest resolution it must be as a result of magical/mythical threats to the outcome rather than the mundane ones. 4. It is already established that you can resist magical threats with an Initiate of [Deity] ability. Where I am adapting the rules somewhat is in suggesting that an improvisational modifier may not be needed for some Deities.
On point 4 my reasoning was twofold. Firstly if the deity is one of motherhood then the mother would be spending much of her time in pregnancy participating in rituals re-enacting the ways in which the goddess overcame the mythic/magical threats. Secondly this is a number of vaguely defined threats over a period of time the one common element of which is that they are directly opposed to the core nature of the goddess.
I would apply this reasoning to initiates of a motherhood aspect of a goddess AND to those who shift to the motherhood aspect as a result of their giving birth. Those who choose to stay in a nonmotherhood aspect (such as an Ernaldan healer who remains in a Healer aspect as a devotee) would be subject to an improvisational modifier for so doing, I'd probably apply a -5. Similarly some goddesses do not have motherhood as a central aspect of their reality but are associated with motherhood (e.g. they have children) and for these deities I would apply an improvisational modifier.
Taking this further an initiate of a non-motherhood deity (such as Humakt or Lhankor Mhy) would not be able to directly resist the threat with their 'Initiate of' ability as it is simply not appropriate.
For non-initiates who are pantheon worshippers of the mother goddess there would still be benefits available - especially community support focussed through the usual religious rituals and community Wyter. What they would lack is an 'Initiate of' ability that could be the basis for their defence against the magical threats - they would need to use another ability entirely (or default if they have nothing at all appropriate).
So that's the thinking behind what I said. Feel free to shoot me down in flames.
-- Nic
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