[areoform]

Most women have watched someone go through a difficult pregnancy in their lives before they hit 20. It's not a "belief" for the people who live through it.

People used to die – frequently – from this "belief." And women still do.

[ericd]

The belief I was talking about was that that was at all representative of the median case, and the implication that it’s not worth the risk to have kids (this was before you added the big chunk about mortality being 4-10% in places without a good medical system). I have first hand experience of some of the potential difficulties, so I know it happens, but I also know that it’s not every pregnancy, most are fine, and that if you do have difficulty, a high quality healthcare system can usually get you through it.

And this belief is interesting, because it seems like one of the most evolutionarily unfit ideas possible, at least on the individual level. But maybe it’s good for the survival of the group if it decreases resource contention.

[samus]

Evolution is not involved anymore in this since effective measures for birth control became available.

[ericd]

Eh? Evolution functions whether procreation was intentional or not.

[samus]

Since we all live in the same global society, the existence of birth control technology has effects that are independent of evolutionary processes.

[dijit]

the women most afraid of child rearing live in countries with the best maternal healthcare.

something irrational is happening wether you want to admit it or not.