Doctors understood why modern women often experience childbirth complications
Boston University: upright walking and narrowed birth canals in modern women make childbirth more difficult than in the Australopithecus sediba ancestor.
Boston University: upright walking and narrowed birth canals in modern women make childbirth more difficult than in the Australopithecus sediba ancestor.
Scientists at Boston University are confident: upright walking has made childbirth such a difficult task for women. The ancestors of modern humans generally gave birth much more easily due to a different pelvic structure. Australopithecus sediba is an ancestor of modern humans that lived approximately 2 million years ago. The birth canal of females of this species was significantly wider than that of modern women.
According to scientists, human ancestors gave birth in a few hours and without much trouble. Modern women find it difficult to give birth due to narrowed birth canals and the relatively large size of the baby's head. Scientists created a digital model of the female pelvis of A. sediba to simulate childbirth. Data on the pelvic structure of Australopithecus afarensis, Homo erectus, and Homo sapiens species, as well as chimpanzees, were also taken into account.
It turned out that females of the Australopithecus species apparently did not have bone structures that would affect the birth canal. Additionally, the heads of newborns were relatively small. Together, this meant that the baby did not need to make rotational movements as it passed through the birth canal. But this does not mean that human ancestors were completely free of problems during childbirth.
Book a visit — we will pick a convenient time.