How many pregnancies are too many?

911fltrn · Apr 5, 2006

16 is to many

babynurselsa, RN · Apr 5, 2006

If you are responsible and capable of caring for your children too many is what you say it is. If you want 5 or 6 kids why would you let someone else tell you you cannot do it?

judyblueeyes · Apr 5, 2006

Whatever number you two decide on is OK with me!

I'm #5 of 6, my best friend will be having # 6 in a few weeks, and my other frined is from a family of 9. I just had 2 myself. We wanted 3, but complications won't allow that for us.

allnurses Guide · Apr 5, 2006

We have 4 and I'd love more.

It is only up to you and your husband.

There are no problems associated with JUST having more kids. Even the parents of one child can be abusive - so size doesn't matter. We've lost a couple of babies here recently to shaken-baby syndrome . . . all only children.

Best wishes on your lovely family.

steph

Meerkat · Apr 5, 2006

At the risk of being flamed, I'll toss in my two cents. It's not meant to offend anyone, so please do not take it that way. In fact I will describe it in relation only to myself.

I have one baby. I would love to have more, and go through the experience of pregnancy again, especially because my pregnancy was an awful experience, being with an abuser. i would love to have the chance to experience it with love and peace, and have a sister or brother for my baby.

But, for me personally, I don't feel that in good conscience I could give birth again. Part of the reason for this is my job in pediatric psychology, where I see so many many many foster children who have suffered terribly and need good homes. Hopefully someday I will be able to adopt one. The second reason I cannot in good conscience have another baby is because I do not want to contribute to the over-population of the Earth, which is growing exponentially. According to reports, the Earth has a max capacity of ten billion. After that, mass starvation will occur. We are currently at six billion, and growing every single day. With more and more babies each year, and less deaths, ten billion is not too far off.

I don't mean to sound alarmist or judgemental. These are just my thoughts.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 5, 2006

At the risk of being flamed, I'll toss in my two cents. It's not meant to offend anyone, so please do not take it that way. In fact I will describe it in relation only to myself.
I have one baby. I would love to have more, and go through the experience of pregnancy again, especially because my pregnancy was an awful experience, being with an abuser. i would love to have the chance to experience it with love and peace, and have a sister or brother for my baby.
But, for me personally, I don't feel that in good conscience I could give birth again. Part of the reason for this is my job in pediatric psychology, where I see so many many many foster children who have suffered terribly and need good homes. Hopefully someday I will be able to adopt one. The second reason I cannot in good conscience have another baby is because I do not want to contribute to the over-population of the Earth, which is growing exponentially. According to reports, the Earth has a max capacity of ten billion. After that, mass starvation will occur. We are currently at six billion, and growing every single day. With more and more babies each year, and less deaths, ten billion is not too far off.
I don't mean to sound alarmist or judgemental. These are just my thoughts.

Not flaming you by any means, but who says the Earth can hold only ten billion? Where and how did they come up with that?

Fewer deaths? AIDS in Africa, anyone? And remember that more people live in the Third World than in the first, and their mortality rate is much higher than ours.

I always wonder about some "science". I honestly thought that idea went out with free love and Woodstock.

allnurses Guide · Apr 5, 2006

Meerkat - I think it is admirable that you want to help, especially with foster kids. But the reason for so many foster kids is parents who are making bad choices, mostly drug abuse. And we could do so much more in that arena.

As to the population question, I read something a long time ago about over-population being a myth.

"We're nowhere near the earth's capacity, which is yet another myth. Just to break it down with another classic example: the land area of Texas is 262,000 square miles, and the world's population is about 6 billion. By converting square miles to square feet and dividing by the world's population, one readily finds that there are more than 1,217 square feet per capita".

"The entire world's population could fit into Texas! "

Granted, there are areas in the world that are suffering but it is due to people not having freedom and there being no jobs available and also the ravages of civil war and diseases.

But as to the entire world being overpopulated, that just isn't true.

steph

allnurses Guide · Apr 5, 2006

not flaming you by any means, but who says the earth can hold only ten billion? where and how did they come up with that?
fewer deaths? aids in africa, anyone? and remember that more people live in the third world than in the first, and their mortality rate is much higher than ours.
i always wonder about some "science". i honestly thought that idea went out with free love and woodstock.

"arm yourself with the story of the famous bet between the scientist paul ehrlich, one of the gurus of the left, and another scientist, dr. julian simon from the university of maryland."

"dr. ehrlich predicted back in the 70s that if the earth were to reach current population levels, that disaster, poverty and famine would result. he wrote his predictions in a book called, the population bomb. well, along comes dr. simon with a bet: name ten resources and natural elements, and i'll bet you they will not only increase in supply in 20 years, but their price will be cheaper than they are now. twenty years later, dr. simon won the bet on every score."

check out the website . . . . . as i remember (i was a teen and young adult in the 1970's) the book, the population bomb was a big deal.

steph

allnurses Guide · Apr 5, 2006

Just an addendum . . . . please don't take the last couple of posts as flames . . I hate that word anyway, it doesn't describe what usually happens when people disagree.

All I wanted to do was include some of the facts regarding the overpopulation question.

I do still admire you for your stance and hope someday you do rescue a child from not having a parent.

steph

Meerkat · Apr 5, 2006

Hi--I'm not taking it as flames. :)

You are right...there ARE varying estimates regarding the Earth's max capacity. And there are many variables to consider as well...

-non renewable resources, fossil fuels...

-food production, consumption

-birth and attrition rates

-war and disease

-land destruction

Of course population growths vary from region to region, especially with your example of the AIDS epidemic in Africa. There are are indeed different opinions as to the earth's capacity.

My source was Brown and Kane's 1994 study. It was based on food consumption.

But really. all we have to do is look around at our surroundings. I am in the suburbs, and I see new developments in construction everyday. I see a coyote on my way into the hospital, DOWNTOWN, almost everyday. This tells me that our construction and development is encroaching on more and more land, driving wild animals into cities. From this I deduce that land is being used up, and habitats destroyed. Perhaps I am making a leap here, and I admit to not being a scientist, but I do think that based on first hand observations of development, that there is cause for concern.

As far as the population growth, we need to look only to the US census history. It has NEVER decreased. only increased. I realize this is only a measure of the US, but consider that this is a country where birth control is widely available, and then apply the same growth to a country where it is not.

I didn't mean to hijack your pregnancy thread! I'm sorry!

Gompers, BSN, RN · Apr 5, 2006

As long as all your children have been healthy, you're healthy, and you have the means to support them - I say have as many kids as you want! You are blessed to have the four you already do, and there's nothing wrong with wanting a larger family. I think it'd be pretty cool to grow up in a big family - I just have one brother.

The only time I've seen doctors advising women against having more kids is if there is a medical problem - either with the moms or the babies. Some moms we see in the NICU again and again - babies come more and more premature due to incompetent cervix. One had 2 term babies, 1 36 weeker, 1 32 weeker, 1 28 weeker, and 1 24 weeker - in that order. Notice a pattern? The docs told her to stop, because it was pretty obvious she couldn't handle the pregnancies.

You still have a good 15 years left to have babies...

Don't let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do with your body.