Mother knows best

[Quinlan]

Researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London have found that pregnant and postnatal women, while wanting to do the best for their baby, do not follow medical advice without question and are more likely to adopt practices their mothers and grandmothers carried out during their pregnancies.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100514075155.htm

This is evolution at work, listening to your mother is a successful strategy because obviously you survived therefore so will your children if you do the same.

 

[That Girl]

What about mothers who don't want children or teenage mothers? Is it truly the best policy to follow such an example? Is it possible that one must reach a certain level of maturity before being capable of being a successful mother?

 

[Reon]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100514075155.htm

This is evolution at work, listening to your mother is a successful strategy because obviously you survived therefore so will your children if you do the same.

I'm not really sure about this, to be honest. Just 'surviving' isn't a good parameter of success. The inverse doesn't mean you failed, either. Anecdotally speaking: A elderly woman person I know smoked tobacco and drank everyday, her baby.....somehow came out fine. Her daughter did the same for one baby, and that baby died. That woman decided to listen to all the medical advice she was given and ignore the advice of the woman who birthed her, and she has one living child

 

[Quinlan]

I'm not really sure about this, to be honest. Just 'surviving' isn't a good parameter of success. The inverse doesn't mean you failed, either. Anecdotally speaking: A elderly woman person I know smoked tobacco and drank everyday, her baby.....somehow came out fine. Her daughter did the same for one baby, and that baby died. That woman decided to listen to all the medical advice she was given and ignore the advice of the woman who birthed her, and she has one living child

Sorry I was thinking purely in evolutionary terms where survival is success.

In your example the baby died so the poor advice passed on from the grandmother would end there.

 

[That Girl]

Sorry I was thinking purely in evolutionary terms where survival is success.

In your example the baby died so the poor advice passed on from the grandmother would end there.

Which would be the evolutionary process cutting out something that isn't providing the best survival rate. I suppose that makes sense. The same would answer my questions; although humans find interesting ways to survive that don't always benefit us in the long run.

 

[Flavus Aquila]

Every time mothers follow the advice of so-called "child-rearing experts" the kids end up screwed up it seems.