[Avodah] childbirth

[T613K at aol.com]

From: "Chana Luntz" _Chana at kolsassoon.org.uk_ 
(mailto:Chana at kolsassoon.org.uk) 



[Quoting  RMF's teshuva:]

> because childbirth in its natural time in the  natural way is not 
> considered a danger at all. Since G-d created the  world to be fruitful 
> and multiply, there is no question that he created  it that it should 
> be for beracha and not for danger. Furthermore He  commanded the 
> obligation to have children. It is not logical that there  would be a 
> command to place one's self in danger in order to fulfil the  mitzva of 
> having children. .... We 
> must conclude that  there is absolutely no danger in childbirth at all. 
> That mean that G-d  promised that there would never be danger in 
>  childbirth.

>>That seems pretty clear cut and unequivocal.   The logic makes sense.  The
only problem is a) the statistics don't bear  him out, as RTK brings (as well
as RET's anecdotal references to righteous  women); and b) the halacha states
flatly that this is not the case, and that  a woman in childbirth is to be
considered a chola sheyesh bo sakana and  shabbas must be violated. <<
 
 
>>>>
I would like to suggest a possible [partial]  reconciliation of RMF's 
problematic teshuva with reality.  And that is,  /normal/ childbirth is not dangerous 
in and of itself.  If nothing goes  wrong -- and the vast majority of times, 
nothing does go wrong -- then  childbirth is not intrinsically dangerous.  In 
the countries with the worst  statistics (mentioned in that Time article I 
referenced a few days ago),  transportation is so bad and the countries are so 
messed up that a third of all  women give birth with /no/ assistance, not even a 
midwife, and it is among those  women that you find the highest mortality 
rates.  The Jewish women in Egypt  were /unusual/ in not requiring the assistance 
of midwives.  (Some  meforshim explain "chayos heima" as meaning that they 
gave birth like animals,  quickly and easily.)  But a normal birth /with/ the 
help of a midwife is  usually not dangerous.  What you might compare it to is 
driving a car -- a  normal everyday activity that has a certain level of risk 
associated with it,  but a risk that we consider so "normal" that nobody would 
say, "Oy, are you  out of your mind, doing something so risky, driving a car?!" 
 We would  still have to take RMF's words "no danger in childbirth at all" as 
guzma,  rhetorical, not exactly literal but still normative.  By normative I 
mean,  a Jew is generally not allowed to put his life at risk, but getting  
pregnant is a normal, healthy thing to do and not to be thought of as a  
suicidal career choice.  The failure to use contraceptives is not the  equivalent of 
flying on a trapeze without a net. 



--Toby  Katz
=============




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