Allow me to offer an opinion on at least one cause of the population panic of the last 40-some years. For centuries, breastfeeding kept the world population stable or at a low growth. The abandonment of breastfeeding in the 1930s was accompanied by the growth of contraception and so population remained stable. In the 1950s, the postwar boom in having babies was welcomed by almost everyone, but it put a tremendous burden on moms who were having babies every year because of the lack of breastfeeding. This induced the panic reflected in Ehrlich’s negative fantasy of 1968. It also helped to induce panic in the Catholic population and the consequent rejection of Catholic teaching regarding unnatural forms of birth control.
One answer to the problem is what my wife has termed “ecological breastfeeding” or eco-breastfeeding for short. Even in the culture of the United States, mothers who do this type of breastfeeding average between 14 and 15 months before they have their first postpartum period. In some less-developed cultures, breastfeeding accounts for average birth intervals of 48 months with no contraception or taboos against intercourse while nursing. The Eskimos used to keep their families to 3 to 4 children using traditional breastfeeding.
God has a plan revealed in the book of Nature and we need to respect it.
John F. Kippley
Sex and the Marriage Covenant