Why is human childbirth so dangerous and inefficient?

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I hear of women in my community and across the world either having stillbirths or dying during the process of birth all the time. Why?

How can a dog or a cow give birth in the dirt and turn out fine, but if humans did the same, the mom/infant have a higher chance of dying? How can baby mice, who are similar to human babies (naked, gross, blind), survive the “newborn phase”?

And why are babies so big but useless? I understand that babies have evolved to have a soft skull to accommodate their big brain, but why don’t they have the strength to keep their head up?

In: Biology

28 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

You have a misconception.

There are tons of animals having stillborn.
Cows have for their first pregnancy a chance of ~10% for stillbirth, dog are at about 4.8%, cats at 5-12%

While in Guinea-Bissau, the rate for humans is about 3.2%, the worst rate on earth.
Sure, even in Guinea-Bissau there are medical facilities, but U don’t think they make that much of a difference.

Tell me if I’m wrong, this was 2 min google search

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