Why does it still hurt for women to have babies....?

[flobadob]

From an evolutionary viewpoint.

[ELVIS68]

Small hole, large head?

[wolf63]

^^^^^^
I think that the above answer covers it.

[ELVIS68]

Thanks wolf, bit like asking..Why does a kick in the nuts still hurt a man?...from an evolutionary point of view

[pastafreak]

It's not in the best interest of evolution to remove pain. It's there for a reason..often as a warning if things are not progressing correctly.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Elvis is basically right to say "small hole, large head", and there's a few key evolutionary issues relevant to why this is.

Larger heads allow for neurologically more mature offspring, which increases their chance of surviving. At the same time, we've evolved from mammals that walked on all fours to walking upright. Walking upright necessitates a narrow(er) pelvis than walking on all fours does, and also meant the birth canal was less straight, which in turn leads to greater pain in childbirth.

Finally - I'm on the fence regarding this claim, so am just reporting it - there are those who believe that pain in childbirth is 'good' because it means that women are more likely to seek out other people to assist them, increasing the chances of things going well.

[wolf63]

So guys - what is the reason for period pains? (from an evolutionary viewpoint!)

I had no problem getting my little ones - they came via the Cats Protection.

[mibn2cweus]

Intelligence, while offering a distinct advantage, comes at a price, a large brain and subsequently large head necessary to accommodate it. It's a shame given the pain and increased risk of complications that accompanies birthing a large head, so many squander the potential provided by virtue of a large brain and the degree of intelligence made possible in the bargain.

[wolf63]

I presume that the gestation period for humans is so long to allow the development of a brain that may, or may not, be used to its fullest potential.

I know that other animals (cats and dogs) have a gestation period of only 63 days. They are smaller at birth than human babies but are fully formed and have a fully functioning brain that is ready to learn about its world. Intelligent though cats and dogs are they are not fully able to comprehend the world around them and its complexities - they live for the moment and are usually much happier with their lives than us mere humans.

My two are currently beating the crap out of each other. ;-)

[beso]

We have a big head. One of the reasons proposed for this is very interesting.

Other apes have immensely strong jaw muscles that anchor high up on the skull. The genes involved in the human jaw muscles show a pattern consistent with the genetic disease muscular dystrophy. The weaking of these muscles may have been a crucial accelerator in allowing our skull to grow larger and make our large brain possible.

[beso]

According to the Bible all women were condemned by God to eternal suffering in childbirth for Eve's sin of eating the forbidden fruit and leading Adam astray.

[beso]

///So guys - what is the reason for period pains? (from an evolutionary viewpoint!) ///

Periods are an abberation due to unnatural conditions. All fertile women are supposed to be always pregnant.

[flobadob]

beso stop hijacking this question with religious clap trap, this is the Science section not R&S.

To get back to my original question, big head, small hole, is obviously the reason for the pain, but what I mean is that over millions of years why would a woman's body not develop so as to minimise the pain of childbirth? Or is it also the case with other animals that pain is caused in childbirth? It's just that watching nature programmes it would appear that animals other than humans do not appear to show pain in childbirth.

[cazzz1975]

the pain of childbirth is not excruciating in the same way as sustaining an injury via an accident, the pain is an indicator of the birth timescale. pain increases in frequency and severity leading up to the birth, its natures way of controlling the fun..

[woofgang]

beso's answer might actually have some scientific/historical truth to it Imagine a time where not all infants survived and it was in the best interests of the species to produce loads of them. While Mum is breastfeeding there is some natural contraceptive effect, as soon as she isn't she mates and becomes pregnant again. There is a brief time of menstruation before pairing/first mating and that's it, most of the time she doesn't menstruate.

I am not saying that this is right or acceptable or anything but physiologically its a solid theory.

[jno]

It's as others have said: humans have developed bigger brains which means giving birth to them hurts more. So they are born much earlier than other species, and have lots more developing to do. Baby animals are walking within hours; baby humans have to wait a year. And they aren't mature enough to leave home for 15 years or more. One way round this would be for women to develop vast hips and for the baby to gestate for another decade or so. But evolution-wise it's hard to see that disabling pregnant women for so long would help anyone much. The solution we've got - baby born comparatively early and continuing its development outside the womb, leaving the mother free(ish) to carry more babies - really looks far more feasible.

[McMouse]

I always thought it was to give women something to bitch about.

[cazzz1975]

the mutual bitch:

kick in the balls v childbirth

[WaldoMcFroog]

I forget who does the routine, but there's a stand up who points out that a kick in the spuds and childbirth are not comparable in pain levels. Many women, having had one child, will deliberately opt to have another. No man who has been kicked in the nuts would **ever** solicit another.