Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-09-20

Fear Of having a baby Il
mother m entions often
enough how agonizing the
process is and remembers to
pity, aloud. every woman in
the neighborhood who be-
comes pregnant. Her daugh-
ter will be terrified during
her pregnancy. If she has
one. There's q fair chance
that she may never want to
marry at all.
The fear Of pregnancy has
complicated roots. A woman
knows from her childhood
that she very likely will be-
come q mother. She puts the
thought aside and goes ahead
through her adolescence. her
marriage. Then one day she
finds she is pregnant. She
can't turn back and she
doesn't know what lies ahead.
She feels caught with no con-
troll over her destiny. This is
the kind Of fear that is wom-
ans greatest menace. It has
no face. like the fear Of
making q platform speech or
the fear Of reception lines. It
Is q shadow fear, the more
dreadful to defeat because it
is 30 senseless. If we hunt q
little deeper we win find that
the difficulty probably lies in
the woman's reluctance to ac-
cept the responsibility which
this pregnancy will bring. No
longer can she be carefree
and dependent. She must
grow up. share her husbands
love and nurture their child.
It isn't only the inevitability
Of nine months of pregnancy
and labor which she cannot
side-step. but the endless
future.
/ am not q psychiatrist but
I've come to realize that
usually it is insecure people
who have nameless fears. A
fear Of pregnancy can some
times be the monster child Of
the fear Of losing a husband.
A sensitive man, sharing his
wife's concern over her preg-
nancy and comforting her in
the bad moments can lift the
load Of fear with his solicit
tude alone. It is dangerous
to fight fear in solitude-no
one ever got over a feeling Of
insecurity by staring out the
window at the rain.
The fear Of growing old
Is also a fear Of not having
affection. Women who are
facing old age fear desola-
ton: they fear that they
have no value for themselves.
They face Loneliness and
having to be dependent.
Women whose sole sus-
tanning asset has been their
appearance are the most
pathetic Of all. Through
their thirties and forties they
have put so much emphasis
on attractiveness Of looks
and manner that they have
given no affection, help or
interest. Naturally they can
not expect to receive any af-
lection. help or interest. As
their faces and figures dete-
riorate with age. they panic.
We all know wretched old
women with orange hair,
round spots Of rouge and a
determinedly girlish cackle.
They are the saddest spec
tacles Of the human race.
know them as a doctor be-
cause they are ravaged in
side with the symptoms Of
fear - tremors, bowel and
bladder irregularity. dyspep-
STA, insomnia.
There is q positive at
titude toward old age. A
woman past so. has more To
offer her community than she
ever has known. She is Sc
rene, experienced. sound in
her judgment and tolerant,
If she avoids the paralyzins
Twins, rear ana Selt-pity, she
can be a beneficient influence
in charitable work, in local
government, in her church,
And the world can always
find a welcome for a cake
baked the old-fashioned way,
instead Of with a box Of pow
der and a cup of water.
AS for appearance, beauty
and grace improve with age
AS any artist will tell you
Television producers have
found that young faces APP
pear shallow and uninterest-
ing: older faces. wrinkled and