Accused witches often had fewer children than the typical woman; sometimes they had none at all.” It was believed that the witch’s jealousy of larger families might prompt her to curse them, to punish them for having what she is supposed to want. But even though natal care and medical knowledge on the whole have advanced significantly since then, the image of the monstrous antimother is still with us. Even today, in this age of “you do you” self-actualization, the choice to not even try to have children is met with suspicion.
