I know someone who smoked and lived to 95 and died of non-smoking related causes, so obviously smoking is not bad for you........ I have no doubt that plenty of healthy women can have home births with no problems. Just as children who are not immunised can catch polio and not die or be permanently crippled. But statistically, we know that the use of hospitals and immunisation lower deaths
That 7% mortality rate was pre birth, so given the birth rate was about 3 per family back then, you were looking at up to 20% of child bearing women dying in child birth.
A bit off topic, but one child at my daughter's pre-school is not immunised. I know the parents and they are educated, but have made a decision not to immunise. Personally, I would quite happily refuse to admit this child to the school, until she was immunised. It puts my own child's health at risk, particularly my youngest who at 3 weeks has yet to receive most of the immunisation shots. Scientific evidence is clear that immunisation saves lives. I was born just after polio vaccination was introduced but remember where Ian Dury (of Blockheads fame) got his limp
