Advocates of natural mothering have forgotten their most basic natural responsibility.
No, it’s not to have a vaginal birth. No it’s not to breastfeed. No it’s not to pretend to be encouraging bonding by baby-wearing. The PRIMARY purpose of mothers in nature is to make sure their children survive to reproduce. Any time a mother in nature — human or animal — willingly puts her offspring in danger, she is a bad mother.
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Any time a mother in nature — human or animal — willingly puts her offspring in danger, she is a bad mother.[/pullquote]
Evolution, as everyone knows, favors SURVIVAL of the fittest. The surrounding environment is always changing but the imperative remains the same. Twenty thousand years ago the best mothers might have ensured their children’s survival by protecting them from predators. Ten thousands years ago the best mothers might have ensured their children’s survival by learning to plant crops. Today the best mothers avail themselves of any and all technology to boost their children’s chance of survival above that of other children.
Keep in mind that what counts is NOT whether mothers believe that their course of action ensures a better chance of survival, it only matters whether their course of action ACTUALLY maximizes their offspring’s chance of survival.
The strength and depth of the maternal imperative to ensure offspring survival is often illustrated by a lioness protecting her cubs. She will put everything on the line, including her own life, to make sure the next generation survives. The animal mother who dismisses a threat instead of reacting to it aggressively is the mother who’s likely to end up an evolutionary failure; she’s a bad mother. It doesn’t matter whether the lioness believes she was right to ignore the threat and it certainly doesn’t matter what the other lionesses think about her decision. After all, she’s in competition with them to give her own cubs a survival advantage; the last thing she should be concerned about is whether the other lionesses approve.
That’s why a good mother is a mother who embraces technology.
Imagine the ancient mother who said: “Fire? OMG, fire is dangerous. People could get burned. There is no way that I am cooking my children’s meat before they eat it!”
She deprived her children of a critical chance for boosting their health, brain power and overall chance of surival. She was a bad mother and her children probably got outcompeted because of it.
Imagine the ancient mother who said, “Deliberately planting seeds in the ground? You have got to be kidding me! How do we know that the seeds we plant will grow into crops as safe and nutritious as the ones we gather? They might be poisoned so we better not eat them.”
She deprived her children of a critical chance for boosting their health, brain power and overall chance of surival. She was a bad mother and her children probably got outcompeted because of it.
Or much, much later:
Imagine the mother who said, ““Electricity? It’s too complicated for me to understand. I’d rather my children and I sit in the dark.”
She, too, deprived her children of a critical chance to boost their survival because she made it impossible for them to enjoy the fruits of modern technology.
That’s why women who choose to freebirth are bad mothers. They value their own experience over their child’s survival. Don’t get me wrong; they have every right to make that choice, but they are bad mothers for choosing anything other than maximizing their child’s survival of the dangerous process of birth.
That’s why women who choose to continue breastfeeding when their babies fail to gain weight and supplement with goats’ milk or homemade “formula” are bad mothers. They may have been led to believe, and they may even believe, that formula is dangerous, but nature doesn’t care what you believe. It rewards the survivors and punishes everyone else.
And that’s why women who refuse to vaccinate are the worst mothers of them all. They are ignorant and fail to understand the science, but it is their children who will be penalized. They are self-absorbed and care more for the accolades of their Facebook peer group than for the wisdom of experts, and it is their children who will pay the price.
Let me make it crystal clear for those who have trouble understanding: If your child is injured or dies from measles because you failed to vaccinate, you are a complete and utter failure as a mother. You failed at your primary purpose, keeping your child alive. It doesn’t matter that in your ignorance your feared vaccine “injuries” more than measles. Measles was the greater threat and you FAILED by being unable or unwilling to appreciate that.
Mothers, you have ONE job that is more important than all others: making sure your children survive to reproduce. Sadly, in 2019, all children will not do so. We are unable to vanquish all threats and you are not responsible if your child dies from something beyond your control. But if there is a way to improve your child’s survival and you refuse to use it so you can preen to your friends that you are a free thinker and a lover of nature — you failed.
That’s why anti-vaxxers are deserving of special scorn. It’s not just because they are ignorant, although they are profoundly ignorant. It’s not just because they are gullible, although they are astoundingly gullible. It’s because they pander and perform for their friends by refusing the technology that will make their children fittest for survival. That’s not merely bad mothering, that’s unnatural.
