On Mon, 15 Apr 2002 12:53:55 -0600, Jana Eagle <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>anyway why should our body NOT be designed to give birth??  Every
>other animal who has made it thus far evolutionarily speaking is here
>only because their bodies work well.  Plus surgical birth has not been
>around for very long, so how come all of a sudden supposedly 25% of
>women have pelvises that are too small?

Evolutionary pressures may end up with features that counter
each other (that is, evolution is without design). Such
is the case with bipedalism (narrow pelvis) and larger brains
(bigger heads) causing problems for human birthing, and
this is seen as a problem to be solved by evolutionary anthropologists.


http://www.davis-floyd.com/blackwel_art.html:

 Indeed it is reasonable to assume that midwifery must have evolved right
 along with human birth (Trevathan 1987*). The presence of other women would
 have enhanced the success of the birth process as they acquired such
 skills as turning the baby in utero, assisting rotation of the head and
 shoulders at birth, or massaging the mother's uterus and administering
 herbs to stop postpartum bleeding.

 *Human Birth : An Evolutionary Perspective (Foundations of Human Behavior)
  by Wenda R. Trevathan

So a behavior was developed (midwifery) to counter the contradictory
features leading to childbirth problems.

Another review I found of this book:

   http://www.glenn.morton.btinternet.co.uk/birth.htm


Philip Thrift
http://www.geocities.com/PaleoFitness