What are pregnant and nursing women a symbol of here? Helaman 15:2

What are pregnant and nursing women a symbol of here? Helaman 15:2

Several times throughout the scriptures the suckiness of being a nursing or pregnant mother during certain periods of great desolation and destruction is explicitly mentioned.

I've always scratched my head. Is God signaling these women out? I mean, it already sucks to be a nursing or pregnant mother. A lot. It seems supremely unfair to heap more misery onto them.

But I really do think that this is a symbol of some kind. I can't really think of what the symbol could be right now, but it might have to do with being vulnerable and somewhat innocent. I think nursing and pregnant mothers tend to have those qualities shared between them: we are caring for life at its most helpless stage when our bodies are incubators and milk machines. Helpless, and innocent. It's also a tremendous amount of sacrifice, more than I'd ever be able to explain with words. Even the worst mother shares the quality of "innocence" to some degree, by caring for that innocent life inside or directly attached to her.

Answer:
Maybe the verses mean that unless we repent, even our most vulnerable, most innocent people making the most sacrifices, will perish. Maybe it's just a metaphor to express an extreme level of contrast, and the sheer importance of repentance.