Legalizing Risk

We live in a risk averse society. The children in my neighbourhood are driven to school. School is two blocks away. Unless it was really cold out, I refused to drive them! I was asked "Wasn't I afraid of strangers." No, I wanted to say, "I'm afraid of your husband, your brother, I don't know what happens when I send my children to your house." The truth is that we are more at risk from the people we know than the people we don't. I know this personally as members of my family were assaulted by neighbours, who were warm, friendly, and helpful pederasts. And despite helicopter parenting, if a pederast wants a child, they can be gone in 20 seconds.

In some parts of the country, we've legislated certfied midwives. We've even created a small niche for them. In my neighbourhood, people are afraid of midwifery. They ask, "Aren't you afraid your baby will die?" "No!" I want to say, "No, I'm afraid of the downtown OB/GYN, who doesn't know about how to support normal birth, he's afraid of normal birth. He's part of a team that manages birth and vigilently watches for danger. He doesn't want you to take your time, he doesn't care if you're comfortable, he's comfortable with technology, and he's certain that under his care, his skill will save your baby." And so women don't realize that labouring through a birth and delivery is one of the most empowering experiences in your life. They discount the cascade of interventions that start because of fear. They see the disfigurement of their bodies as normal. And babies do die during normal deliveries. More die in the hospital than at home. And babies sicken frequently or die as young children, young adults and young middle-agers because those birth interventions interfere with breastfeeding, early breast-milk substitutes are given and just one bottle can lead to a lifetime of illness and early death. Fear of risk - fear of pain! It's harming us all to the point that we've lost confidence in our neighbourhoods, our bodies and traditional community resources.