Why is it that they have to receive special treatment before and after the delivery? The answer is simple and obvious. The women in towns have to lead an unnatural life. Their food, their costume, their mode of life, in general, offend against the natural laws of healthy living. Besides becoming pregnant at a premature age, they are the sad victims of men’s lust even after pregnancy, as well as immediately after child-birth, so that conception again takes place at too short an interval. This is the state of utter misery and wretchedness. Let all married people realise, once for all, that, so long as sexual enjoyment at a premature age, as well as during pregnancy and soon after child-birth, does not cease to exist in our land, an easy and painless child-birth must remain a wild dream. Their own ignorance and weakness of will make their children grow weaker and droop from day to day. If even a single man and woman should do their duty in this matter, to that extent it would mean the elevation of the world.

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Source: A Guide to Health (1921), Part II, on care of women and childbirth.

About this quote

The thread worth keeping is plain: bodily health tracks the way people actually live day to day — rest, diet, restraint — rather than luck, and even one couple's disciplined choices ripple outward. Note that this 1921 passage frames women and childbirth in assumptions that read as dated and paternalistic now.

When to use it

  • A couple expecting a baby swap late takeout for home-cooked meals and regular walks.
  • Someone with a desk job sets a timer to stand and stretch, easing the back pain no pill fixed.
  • New parents hold a steady sleep routine so the whole household is less frayed by month's end.