The article discusses the challenges of modern parenting compared to the practices of hunter-gatherer societies. Research by science writer Elena Bridgers highlights that Paleolithic parenting allowed for longer intervals between births, greater community support, and more leisure time. Bridgers notes that the notion of self-sacrificial motherhood is neither healthy nor normal. While she does not advocate for a strict Paleo parenting model, her insights underline the need to acknowledge the demanding nature of contemporary motherhood and the possibility of learning from our evolutionary past.
"The self-sacrificial idea of motherhood, where you're supposed to just be burning the candle on both ends, is not healthy and not normal," Bridgers tells TODAY.com.
"We all have this idea in our heads that without birth control, women would just be churning out these huge families," Bridgers says.
"Exercise, diet and breastfeeding patterns acted together to suppress ovulation in a woman who just gave birth," she says.
Bridgers notes that the median interbirth interval was 33 to 38 months in the US in 2014.
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