In three days' time, our local newspaper will run a full-page, illustrated piece on the first New Year's baby born in the community. This celebration is only the most public of the many related events occurring throughout the year. We have a stream of vivid moments to mark the baby's passage from idea to reality. The pregnancy announcement may be followed by semi-public den-building as cribs and playpens start to arrive and Disney-character wallpaper is plastered on the walls of the "nursery." Ultra-sound pictures and videos of the fetus may occasion a family gathering to view them, accompanied by discussion of gender and naming. The "baby shower" widens the circle of celebrants as will the public christening, following the birth.

Little do we appreciate how much we really have to celebrate. In earlier times and, in many other societies, this unbridled optimism and public acclaim regarding the outcome of a woman's pregnancy would have been unthinkable. Here's a brief a rundown of the perils that others have faced. Most importantly, pregnancy itself often provoked an ambiguous reaction. While virtually all societies valued additions to the family-especially male-the probability that the mother would not survive the ordeal was so high that, for much of European history, for example, pregnancy was viewed as a disease. The mother's value to her family and community as a provider and caretaker of previous offspring, is usually higher than the potential value of a new baby, hence her death or prolonged post-partum depression or disability might be a catastrophe.

Aside from worries about her health, a pregnant woman could be under a great deal of stress due to others carefully scrutinizing her behavior. She labors to observe a cornucopia of taboos regarding her diet, her clothing, where she travels and whom she spends time with. Ironically, many of the food taboos and other prescriptions recorded were designed to "harden" the fetus but may have actually diminished the mother's health and increased risk. Kaliai women from New Britain Island couldn't "eat wallaby because the child might develop epilepsy and have seizures during the full moon." (1) Of course foods are not the only things to be avoided. "In Fiji nothing tight must be worn around the mother's neck lest the umbilical cord strangle the fetus." (2) For the same reason, Maisin (Sepik Region of Papua New Guinea) mothers-to-be must not wear necklaces, make string bags or, encounter spider webs. (3) Should she miscarry or give birth to a stillborn or deformed child, it will be assumed that the mother (or the father) has violated either a specific taboo or a more general proscription such as the commission of adultery or theft.

The expectant mother becomes a target of suspicion (is the child legitimate?) and jealousy from barren women. In the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh, women "...hide or conceal their pregnancy to avoid the evil eye." (4) In Gapun, another part of the Sepik Region: "Pregnancy [and childbirth] is considered to be an extremely vulnerable time...when sorcerers will not be able to resist the opportunity to kill [the mother] for some past wrong by shooting enchanted substances into her body to "close" her so that the baby or the placenta will not be able to emerge."(5) Once the Gapun baby emerges from the womb, it will be secluded for months with its mother in a birthing house-a fairly common practice. For Tamils, the "childbirth house is completely shuttered and closed during the actual delivery and...much of the postnatal pollution period...in order to protect the mother and baby from marauding spirits, ghosts, and demons which are attracted to all the blood and contamination." (6)

In effect the mother and child are quarantined for some period. This is designed to protect them from harmful forces but, also, to protect others from them. The puerperal blood and their liminal state are considered to be very dangerous and polluting. And, pragmatically, seclusion draws a discreet curtain, behind which the mother or her kin can elect to dispose of an unwanted infant. Among the Lepcha of Sikkim, the first three days of the newborn's life pass with no acknowledgement of its birth. In effect, it is still in the womb; and is referred to as "rat-child." Only after the house and its members have been thoroughly cleansed, will the infant be welcomed into the world of humans with a special feast. (7) This period of invisibility or non-personhood varies, depending on the rate of infant mortality. In ancient Greece, children under the age of two were never said to have died ahoros, "untimely." (8) In societies with very high infant mortality, the child may not be acknowledged or named until it is 18 months old. (9)

The infant's vulnerability and helplessness may not provoke a strong nurturing response but, rather, an emotional distancing or disdain, for example, "Adults in colonial America viewed infants as rather inadequate creatures, extremely vulnerable to accident and disease, irrational and animalistic in their behavior." (10) Similar views of infancy can be traced to the ancient Greeks. (11) Anthropologist Christopher Little, writing about the Asabano of Papua New Guinea, explains that: "infants are seen as non-sentient beings. When I would inquire about a baby, caregivers were quick to state that, s/he "does not have thoughts" or that s/he "is still breastfeeding."...similar language is used to describe dogs and bush animals. Many individuals explained to me that dogs, pigs, chickens, and so forth, "do not have thoughts." (12)

By treating the infant as not fully human, the community can more readily expose, abandon or destroy it. It was the rare society that did not condone infanticide, indeed, forest foraging groups like the Tapirapé from central Brazil only allowed three children per family; all others had to be left behind in the jungle. (13) Well past the neonate stage, the infant would be studied carefully for signs of physical or emotional abnormality. Should such signs emerge, it might be judged to be a changeling. "Sickly babies were impostors left by goblins in place of healthy ones. The infant left behind became an enfant changé in France, a Wechselbag in Germany, in England a "fairy child. In northern Europe, changelings were left overnight in the forest. If the fairies refused to take it back, the changeling would die during the night--but since it was not human, no infanticide could have occurred. (14) Among the Dogon of Mali, children thought to be evil spirits are taken "...out into the bush [where]...they turn into snakes and slither away...You go back the next day, and they aren't there. Then you know for a sure that they weren't really children at all, but evil spirits." (15)

Dramatic and welcome changes have occurred over the last 50 years, particularly in the industrialized nations, so that we may bring our babies out of the shadows and celebrate their arrival. The death of the mother in childbirth is now extremely rare and infant mortality has fallen precipitously. Child mortality has fallen as well. We can attribute these gains to improved nutrition and prenatal care and, more hygienic birthing practices. Other contributing practices are the decline in the birth rate, and, importantly, safe, affordable contraception. Unlike their sisters in many less developed areas, women in the wealthier nations can elect to become pregnant and bear a child when they are physically, emotionally and financially "ready." The majority of our children are now born with joyous anticipation.

Meanwhile, however, as we celebrate our babies, we must guard against complacency. In many Third World countries, conditions for infants and their mothers have changed little from those described above. (16, 17) And, in the US, we should be downright ashamed of our abysmal record when it comes to mother-infant health. Compared to other developed countries, our rates of teen pregnancy (with predictably bleak outcomes for the child), premature births, fetal exposure to drugs including alcohol and nicotine and, levels of child abuse and murder are very high. In surveys carried out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the US rate of teen pregnancy was 3 times higher than the average for the 35 member countries. Our infant mortality rate is fourth from highest-just behind Mexico. (18) Scientific advances in genetic counseling, child nutrition, inter-birth spacing (IBI) and contraception are ignored by many prospective parents and spurned by politicians. It seems that our celebrations may have been premature or should at least be muted. Too many women and their infants still face a terrible prognosis.