When Diapers Were Made
Why When To Have A Baby Is Not Entirely A Matter Of Choice
The element of choice in when to have a baby has perhaps never been as great as it is now. For most of human history childbirth has been an almost natural process, occurring as soon as possible after nine months has elapsed after marriage. Barrenness aside, most people would have accepted pregnancy as a blessing and relief.
Surprisingly, there is evidence that contraception was practiced as far back as 3000BC. Condoms were apparently made of fish bladders and animal intestines. In those days people could hardly have worried much about world overpopulation so the reasons for contraception must have been intensely personal. Nowadays contraception may be more reliable but the personal nature of decisions is probably as it always has been.
In the twentieth century it appears that there are many communities that proceed with procreation blithely oblivious of the fact that the human population is rising like a ticking time bomb. Every minute of every day the human population rises past seven billion, towards the ultimate carrying capacity of the planet. Unfortunately, the people who are ignorant or indifferent to this problem are the ones who have most babies.
The age of marriage in the West has risen from twenty-two in 1890 to twenty-six in 2010. If it is assumed that marriage is the institution designed with childbirth in mind these ages would seem to be the ones between which most people decide to procreate and that the median age is rising about as slowly as is the age at which it is possible to fall pregnant.
Reliable methods of contraception and enhanced career opportunities for girls may be factors that account for decisions to delay falling pregnant. This allows for career opportunities but also invites the risk of infertility and difficulties in falling pregnant.
In the western world the issue of timing has become a lifestyle choice, to a certain extent. Individuals can take the responsibility of delaying or entering into motherhood. This may be a lonely decision in the case of unmarried women or a contentious one if husband and wife find themselves at odds. When all agree and everything goes to plan couples are blessed, and experience the joy of planned parenthood.
Most couples who try to get pregnant do so within two years of giving up contraception. However, the stress of careers and possibly increased male impotence may be the reasons behind a boom in infertility treatment centers. However, they are very often successful in countering biological threats to planned parenthood.
Despite all the recent advances and changes that have occurred in recent years surrounding the decision of when to have a baby it is a decision that remains intensely personal and individualistic. Like death, birth is a lonely experience and it is a mother who is attendant above all other people to the new spark of life on the planet. Though statistics may boggle the mind and technological innovations alter our lifestyles irrevocably, the messy, bloody experience of motherhood is the thing that keeps us all in touch with our origins.
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How a diaper is made
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Baby Alive Changing Time Baby – Blonde $29.93 It’s snack time for your Changing Time Doll and she’s hungry. Mix up her food packets and feed her from her bowl with her spoon accessory. She’ll even move and make baby sounds, just like a real baby. When meal time is done, your little one will need a fresh diaper — she’s peed and pooped in the one she’s wearing. Clean her up and change her into her new diaper and she’ll be ready to play and cud… |
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 10:18 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.