they didn't just happen, they were expected and demanded. there was social pressure to have children. that's still true in china today. some not yet grandparents put a lot of pressure on their children to give them grandchildren (sometimes very violently too), and i remember a comment in an earlier thread where someone told about the experience of their parents or grandparents where the local pastor was having a concerned talk with a childless couple.

> didn't have access to birth control. Babies weren't really planned, they just happened.

An early form of birth control in my home country was naming your baby Enough (Dosta). Not very efficient, obviously.

edit: it seems this was mostly used for breaking a streak of female babies (the name is feminine). but also in general.