Ray,

I am just curious if you can comment further on this passage from
Neanderthin:

"[Hunter-gatherers] just did what nature required for their survival,
and the result was good health.  If they didn't succumb to death as the
result of trauma, infectious disease, or the perils of childbirth,
hunter-gatherers could expect to live as long as modern affluent humans..."
(page 83)

I am just wondering if you have some evidence about paleolithic
childbirths and death statistics or if you are taking the modern-day
media images of the traumatic operating room childbirth and
transferring it onto paleolithic times.

The image of screaming women losing control of their bodies is all too
common, but it is NOT the way birth is supposed to happen.  I would
argue it has a lot more to do with the medical establishment.

after my daughter's birth, which was quick, intense, and completely
under MY control, and not an obstetrician's, i have always been
convinced that a healthy woman is able to birth easily and escape
these "perils" and i would guess that with a physiologically proper
diet, it would be a normal, natural part of life.  i guess what
actually happened in paleolithic times is likely conjecture, but if
you don't have a reason to describe childbirth as "perilous" please
consider changing this in future editions of your book, because when i
read it, i felt like you were just promoting a sterotype.

respectfully,
Jana
& my kid Emily, now 3 years old.