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That can happen to some women but not to everyone. I was told some horror stories about birth when I was pregnant and not of it happened to me.

I know but the risks are there, same as when you get covid; you'll most likely recover but the risk of long covid or severe illness is still there for everybody even with the vaccines in place.

Some women have a baby that's born dead. It must be so heartbreaking when you're in the final days of pregnancy but already know your baby has died inside you but you've still got to give birth to it. Worst thing ever. Babies are so tiny and delicate, anything can go wrong and so many things do go wrong. I know that if I was pregnant all I'll be worrying about is the birth. I'll probably be fretting so much about it that the stress would probably affect the baby, which is the last thing I'd want.

And not to mention the hormonal changes. I've known two women who had still births. It is devastating.

Who was talking about the cost of raw materials? Consumer prices have a lot more to do with the lack of true competition than the cost of extracting materials. We are also generally offered only the more expensive options, preferably ones that create dependencies.
Manufacturers have always had to compete to operate more efficiently, whenever the owners squeeze them for profits. Some companies can sell mostly smoke and mirrors for decades with government contracts, but eventually, their stuff has to perform to get another big checque, or they have to start a new scheme.
Access to materials is a big deal. Toward the end of WWII, the Allies had the edge in the air war because they had better access to alloying elements for their engines. After the war, the now mighty VW company's fate depended on them not getting caught with a stolen French welding machine, needed for the only available steel sheets.

What's your favourite piece of machinery then?

I know you like bicycles

Yes, but by the same token, pretty much everything caries risks. A friend of mine was in a car accident--the other guy was looking at his phone while driving--and was in a coma for a month. Arms, legs, hips--all of them broken. Awful. But we don't all stop driving just because there are risks.

Of course, there are lots of other good reasons not to have kids. But if you didn't do anything with risks, well, there wouldn't be a whole lot you could do.

I'm more fond of streamlined bikes, AKA velomobiles. They are more comfortable, faster, safer, and all-weather. My favourite, though, is still not built, although the technology is available. About the size of a large house cat, it could be built on a RC car chassis. The most basic model would weed a garden, nicking any green stem not protected by a fluorescent ring. From there, functions would be added until it was completely managing a patch of organic permaculture. It would harvest each stalk of grain and pod of peas at maximum ripeness, and save the best seed. With AI, it could plan for maximum land use and beneficial companion plants. With 3-D printing, it could be produced fast enough to save us from the current chemical mess. It could even be set to make the garden look great for a front yard.

I like your robot idea, Dear one.

Personally, pregnancy ruined my life and health for a long while. I was ill and weak at home for the 9 months, terrified, unable to walk far or go anywhere. It was very frightening.

However, I managed to give birth and breastfeed, despite being very weak after pregnancy. And my baby grew up healthy and happy (even though she was very ill aged 2-7 and I feared for her life)

I would say to people, think very carefully before you have children and make sure you have a strong network of friends and family to rely on. I didn't have anyone except my husband, who was mostly at work, and it was very lonely and exhausting.

But at the end of the day, a beautiful child is in the world because of me and the world is one person better off. I constantly look at her and think 'I grew you in my body. That is a miracle.'

Indeed....that is a miracle.

I wish women didn't go through so much during pregnancy. I wish it was like a horse giving birth----very smooth, with no pain.

It's sort of a tradeoff, at times. Women have to go through so much having a baby----but the ultimate reward could be greater than it is for any man, who didn't have to suffer the rigors of pregnancy.

The thing is, I read that human pregnancies are different to other mammals. With humans, it is a type of pregnancy where the foetus controls the mother's body- changing the hormones, weight, nutrition needs etc. to suit the foetus.

With other mammals, especially herbivores, the mother is in control of the foetus and just gets on with her life, sometimes at the peril of the foetus. e.g. rabbits and deer do this.

This also applies to periods. Human women obviously have continuous periods so we can have children any time of the year. The majority of mammals are only fertile once a year so have children once a year in the mating season.

This was interesting to me, but I can't remember the names of the different types of pregnancy. So no wonder human mothers go through so much: they are controlled by foetuses.