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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...

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Autores principales: Gorman, John, Roberts, Charlotte A, Newsham, Sally, Bentley, Gillian R
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
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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.
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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
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