> Then there's my mother's view of contraception. That some
> planning is necessary to the health of the mother,
> particularly not to have pregnancies too close together. And
> less risk to the mother reduces mortality among the children
> who are born.
>
> I don't know if there's research to support that view but it
> is the experience of someone who remembers women in their
> 30's worn out through having a baby a year after marriage.
Do they bother doing research into the blindingly obvious?
Well, to be fair, we're now also producing vitamin supplements intended to alleviate the problems slightly.
And that reminds me of another interesting little RW historical rumour - I haven't checked the research, so can't confirm accuracy. It seems that for much of early history, women were on the whole chronically anaemic - monthly bleeding plus frequent pregnancy. That leaving them permanently run-down and thus more likely to fall prey to whatever illnesss or famine was around that week. This changed when iron cooking pots became the norm, and more iron, absorbed through cooking, became part of the diet. (Once red meat also became the norm instead of a luxury, I assume this became less important).
Iron cooking pots? The norm? Don't think that'll be happening in Glorantha any time soon...
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