It seems like so often, and really more often than not, I hear about births having so many things go wrong with them. Why does it seem so hard for humans to hear have a normal birth with a healthy baby?
In: Biology
Humans evolution is an ongoing tug of war between the most efficient body and the biggest brain (and skull to put it in).
The efficient body wants to have narrow hips, small body cavities and short pregnancies.
The big brain wants to have big heads coming through big holes after long pregnancies.
Humans are currently at an uncomfortable compromise.
Babies have heads basically as big as they can possibly be and pregnancies as long as they can last… While still being able to leave through the front door at the end.
Problem is, it’s still a very tight fit and even a little deviation from this compromise causes problems.
Too early? Brain and lungs won’t be ready, baby will be premature and we didn’t evolve to continue prenatal development after birth.
Too late? Baby won’t fit properly on the way out, can start getting tangled, deformed or misaligned on the inside.
Look at animals like rats which are born with their eyes and organs only half developed but have great survival instincts and skills from birth, or look at animals like sheep which are born able to walk and run… But are incredibly stupid beasts.
Humans tried to find their own tradeoff and the answer is crazy, risky, births.
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