CATHERINE BELL BIRTH CARTOGRAPHER
  • Home
    • About >
      • life BC
    • Is IBP for You?
    • Informed Decisions
    • Birth Support (doulas)
    • FAQs
    • Contact
    • information policy
  • Birth Cartography training
    • private session with Catherine via zoom
    • Intensive
    • Retreat
    • Birth Cartographer Online training
    • expressions of interest
  • THE BOOK
    • The Birth Map
    • ORDER TODAY
    • Event Pick up
    • Where can I buy the book?
    • Reviews and Testimonials
    • Talking about The Birth Map
    • feedback survey
  • Bellablog
  • Events
  • Stay up to Date
    • Newsletter Archive
    • StoryTime
  • Member Area
    • Read The Book
    • Support Group Discussion
    • Webinars and podcasts
    • links and recommended books
    • Resources (research articles)
    • example maps

Big Brain.  Big Head.  What's the Big idea?

2/4/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Humans are mammals, animals.  Birth is a natural biological event.  So it should be easy right?  And we don't deserve a pat on the back for such a basic function?  It would be like getting a gold sticker for shitting in the potty.  

And yet, we -the humans- do not experience childbirth like other mammals. Other primates have an easier time of it than us.  So why is human birthing so difficult?  Why do so many view it as dangerous and why have we developed entire industries devoted to reproductive management?

Whilst some would dismiss the amazing reproductive abilities of human females as 'just biology', others declare it dangerous and beyond the capabilities of women, requiring interventions and management.  So what is the deal?  Is human birth dangerous?  have we evolved beyond ourselves? Is that even possible?

One of the questions to consider is: Why are our babies so helpless?  This article from the Scientific American adds a further insight into human evolution and the implications.  Are we born so helpless because it has cultural advantages? (a more pliable brain?)  Is it a metabolic response?  

We are intelligent and socially organised enough to support our helpless infants.  Birthing upright, kneeling or squatting makes a massive difference to labour and birth.  Freedom to move as feels right for the mother, being supported not directed or instructed, safe and protected, factors in too.

There is a general assumption that we are born 'early' because our bipedalism means our pelvises can not accommodate our head size.  It could be that there is more to it than simply bio-metrics. Holly Dunsworth has been considering this mythical 'obstetric dilemma':

The Obstetric Dilemma Hypothesis (this one contains a reference list at the end)
Labor Pains and Helpless Infants: Evolution or Eve (part one)
Labor Pains and Helpless Infants: Evolution or Eve (part two)

An interview with Karen Rosenberg, Paleoanthropologist.  This is a wonderful interview!  Here you will 'hear' from the leading researcher about the best explanations we have for why humans experience birth as they do.  ​

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Selected Articles by Catherine ​around the web:
    bellabirth.wordpress.com | evolutionary parenting | pregnancy.com.au | 
    ​| birth without fear | newborn mothers | PBBMedia |
    Sign up to the newsletter
    Join the Member Area​  

    Bellablog Topics

    All
    Autonomy
    Babymoon
    Baby Stuff
    Babywearing
    Birth History
    Birth Map
    Birth Plan
    Birth Preparation
    Birth Stories
    Birth Trauma
    Birth Types
    Book Review
    Breastfeeding
    Breech
    Caesarean
    Consent
    Doula
    Evolution
    Fear
    Feminism
    Five Stages Of Being
    Frozen II
    Gbs
    Gestational Diabetes
    Guest Post
    History
    Hypnobirth
    Induction
    Informed Decisions
    Introducing Solids
    Iv Fluids
    Kangaroo Care
    Labour
    Microbiome
    Motherhood
    Natural Learning
    Normal
    Parenting
    Placenta
    Poetry
    Postnatal Depression
    Quotes
    Relationships
    Resources
    Risk
    Self Care
    Sex
    Sleep
    Spd
    Squatting
    Summer Pregnancy
    Support
    The Cord
    The Nocebo Effect
    Toilet Training
    Twins
    Ultrasound
    Vaccination
    Visual Birth Plan
    Vitamin K

Picture

​About | The Book | FAQs | Member Area  | ​Contact | Newsletter  
​ This website (including the Member Area) is free to access and free of adverts, ​thanks to contributions and sales of The Book
Picture
All links are GOLD.  External links open in a new page.  ​I endeavour to only link to safe and non-spam websites. ​ ​This website, and any provided links and reviews, ​are intended as information only.  
How you use this is up to you.
Creative Commons Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Editor B, Darling Starlings, SO Beach Party, Leonard Bentley, IQRemix, C. VanHook (vanhookc), lemonfilmblog, State Library of South Australia, Someone's Name, edenpictures, ShebleyCL, MassiveKontent, symphony of love, Kelly Sue, szwerink, Dawn Endico, fortfan, Jim Linwood, symphony of love, JLaw45
  • Home
    • About >
      • life BC
    • Is IBP for You?
    • Informed Decisions
    • Birth Support (doulas)
    • FAQs
    • Contact
    • information policy
  • Birth Cartography training
    • private session with Catherine via zoom
    • Intensive
    • Retreat
    • Birth Cartographer Online training
    • expressions of interest
  • THE BOOK
    • The Birth Map
    • ORDER TODAY
    • Event Pick up
    • Where can I buy the book?
    • Reviews and Testimonials
    • Talking about The Birth Map
    • feedback survey
  • Bellablog
  • Events
  • Stay up to Date
    • Newsletter Archive
    • StoryTime
  • Member Area
    • Read The Book
    • Support Group Discussion
    • Webinars and podcasts
    • links and recommended books
    • Resources (research articles)
    • example maps