Cargando…
Squatting, pelvic morphology and a reconsideration of childbirth difficulties
: Childbirth is commonly viewed as difficult in human females, encompassed by the ‘Obstetrical Dilemma’ (OD) described by early palaeoanthropologists as an evolved trade-off between a narrow pelvis necessitated by bipedalism and a large-brained fetal head. The OD has been challenged on several grou...
Autores principales: | , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Oxford University Press
2022
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9154243/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35663511 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoac017 |
_version_ | 1784718002076254208 |
---|---|
author | Gorman, John Roberts, Charlotte A Newsham, Sally Bentley, Gillian R |
author_facet | Gorman, John Roberts, Charlotte A Newsham, Sally Bentley, Gillian R |
author_sort | Gorman, John |
collection | PubMed |
description | : Childbirth is commonly viewed as difficult in human females, encompassed by the ‘Obstetrical Dilemma’ (OD) described by early palaeoanthropologists as an evolved trade-off between a narrow pelvis necessitated by bipedalism and a large-brained fetal head. The OD has been challenged on several grounds. We add to these challenges by suggesting humans likely squatted regularly during routine tasks prior to the advent of farming societies and use of seats. We suggest that habitual squatting, together with taller stature and better nutrition of ancestral hunter-gatherers compared with later Neolithic and industrial counterparts, obviated an OD. Instead, difficulties with parturition may have arisen much later in our history, accompanying permanent settlements, poorer nutrition, greater infectious disease loads and negligible squatting in daily life. We discuss bioarchaeological and contemporary data that support these viewpoints, suggest ways in which this hypothesis might be tested further and consider its implications for obstetrical practice. LAY SUMMARY: Human childbirth is viewed as universally difficult. Evidence from physical therapies/engineering and studies of living and ancestral humans illustrates habitual squatting widens the pelvis and could improve childbirth outcomes. Obstetrical difficulties emerged late in prehistory accompanying settled agriculture, poorer nutrition and less squatting. Specific physical exercises could improve obstetrical practice. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9154243 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Oxford University Press |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-91542432022-06-04 Squatting, pelvic morphology and a reconsideration of childbirth difficulties Gorman, John Roberts, Charlotte A Newsham, Sally Bentley, Gillian R Evol Med Public Health Commentary : Childbirth is commonly viewed as difficult in human females, encompassed by the ‘Obstetrical Dilemma’ (OD) described by early palaeoanthropologists as an evolved trade-off between a narrow pelvis necessitated by bipedalism and a large-brained fetal head. The OD has been challenged on several grounds. We add to these challenges by suggesting humans likely squatted regularly during routine tasks prior to the advent of farming societies and use of seats. We suggest that habitual squatting, together with taller stature and better nutrition of ancestral hunter-gatherers compared with later Neolithic and industrial counterparts, obviated an OD. Instead, difficulties with parturition may have arisen much later in our history, accompanying permanent settlements, poorer nutrition, greater infectious disease loads and negligible squatting in daily life. We discuss bioarchaeological and contemporary data that support these viewpoints, suggest ways in which this hypothesis might be tested further and consider its implications for obstetrical practice. LAY SUMMARY: Human childbirth is viewed as universally difficult. Evidence from physical therapies/engineering and studies of living and ancestral humans illustrates habitual squatting widens the pelvis and could improve childbirth outcomes. Obstetrical difficulties emerged late in prehistory accompanying settled agriculture, poorer nutrition and less squatting. Specific physical exercises could improve obstetrical practice. Oxford University Press 2022-04-26 /pmc/articles/PMC9154243/ /pubmed/35663511 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoac017 Text en © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Foundation for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Commentary Gorman, John Roberts, Charlotte A Newsham, Sally Bentley, Gillian R Squatting, pelvic morphology and a reconsideration of childbirth difficulties |
title | Squatting, pelvic morphology and a reconsideration of childbirth difficulties |
title_full | Squatting, pelvic morphology and a reconsideration of childbirth difficulties |
title_fullStr | Squatting, pelvic morphology and a reconsideration of childbirth difficulties |
title_full_unstemmed | Squatting, pelvic morphology and a reconsideration of childbirth difficulties |
title_short | Squatting, pelvic morphology and a reconsideration of childbirth difficulties |
title_sort | squatting, pelvic morphology and a reconsideration of childbirth difficulties |
topic | Commentary |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9154243/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35663511 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoac017 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT gormanjohn squattingpelvicmorphologyandareconsiderationofchildbirthdifficulties AT robertscharlottea squattingpelvicmorphologyandareconsiderationofchildbirthdifficulties AT newshamsally squattingpelvicmorphologyandareconsiderationofchildbirthdifficulties AT bentleygillianr squattingpelvicmorphologyandareconsiderationofchildbirthdifficulties |