> It's in the Book of Genesis, where the god curses his people _ "you
> shall bear your children in pain" or words to that effect.
>
> William
Yes, the agriculturalists were cursed with difficult, painful childbirth,
but before the farmer Cain there were the hunter gatherer peoples (and some
people still live as HGs today--!Kung San, some Inuit Eskimo, etc.), whom
anthropologists and other scientists report tended to have relatively easy
childbirths. Dystocia (difficult childbirth) is a feature of agrarian
society. It arose with the shift from the wild foods that humans were
designed to eat to agrarian staples that we have not yet adapted to.
This phenomenon is even apparent in animals. The ranch hands of the Adams
Ranch in Florida said that they leave their grass-fed pregnant cows to
handle births on their own out in the fields and there is rarely if ever a
problem, whereas grain-fed cattle have much higher risks of complications
and tend to require having a farmer or vet at hand during the birth, in case
there are problems. Every wild animal birth I have seen on nature shows was
amazingly quick and easy, whereas I have seen a grain-fed, barn-cooped cow
in tremendous distress from her pregnancy.
As I mentioned, there has been discussion of this phenomenon in this forum
and elsewhere. Below are some examples. I was thinking that some people here
might possibly have some more to add by now.
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 11:18:49 -0700
Sender: Paleolithic Eating Support List
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From: Susan Carmack <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Paleo is in the Bible too!
Hi Kristina and paleopeoples,
....
I have a friend who went completely paleo - no grains - who just had a baby
at her house in a tub of water. NO pain. 3 1/2 hours of labour. She is 40
and said it was so easy, she would have 'a million more'. Her husband agreed
to one. She has 2 toddlers at home already!! This woman was originally
scheduled for a Caesarian (Caesar is in the Bible too) because she almost
died last time from heart disease/or an allergic reaction to penicillin.
Is this pain free birth indication that we could be close to going back to
the Garden? ....
From: TRUTH
By: amg455
Subject: Nutrition
Date/Time 2005-06-21 14:04:19
http://forum.dragondoor.com/nutrition/message/341942%5C
Weston A. Price, DDS, traveled worldwide in the 1930's to investigate the
health of primitive peoples who could not obtain foods of the western world.
.... They all had a broad dental arch (jaw shape) and the women had very
easy childbirths because of the broad pelvic structure. Children of these
people who moved to a modern society area developed crowded teeth with many
cavities, and the women suffered difficulties in childbirth similar to our
present western society.
From NeanderThin, by Ray Audette:
Q: Is NeanderThin safe during pregnancy?
A: As hunter-gatherers have the easiest births and the lowest incidence of
birth defects, it is not only safe but is preferred. But before adopting any
changes, you must consult your family physician. The pregnant woman craves
added nutrients to nourish and sustain herself and her developing baby. The
mother's immune system is also working hard to protect mother and child, so
care must be taken to avoid the forbidden foods while satisfying cravings by
increasing dietary diversity. In this way the nausea common in pregnancy can
be greatly reduced if not eliminated.
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 08:28:23 -0600
Sender: Paleolithic Eating Support List
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From: Marsha in Texas <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Longevity and Paleo -- childbirth
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 05:08:45 -0800
From: Kenny Brown <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Longevity and Paleo
<snip>
>Interesting idea. Maybe the glucose IV's has
>something to do with causing a greater risk for
>infection following surgery.
In 1971 when our first son was born we wanted it to be a home birth.
Complications changed that. I was in the hospital for less than 24 hours and
had a drug-free birth. ....
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 01:22:32 -0500
Sender: Paleolithic Eating Support List
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From: Ray Audette <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: the "perils of childbirth" -- question for Ray
From: Jana Eagle >
> 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.
I didn't mean to leave this impression. From studies cited by [Vilhjalmur]
Stefansson, hunter-gatherers have far less trauma and labor in childbirth
than do agricultural women. Just removing the hazards of gestational
diabetes often found in modern women (resulting in very large babies) would
improve these statistics considerably but I suspect much more is involved.
When Gray-Hawk (seven on May 14th) was born, it was without doctors or
drugs. We arrived at the mid-wives['] at 3:15 PM and he arrived at 5:20
after 2 hours of mild labor [.]. As my prediction, five months earlier, of
the easiest birth they had ever seen came true, the midwives bought six
copies of my book.
After one year he weaned himself from his mother and would eat almost
nothing but Pemmican for the next year. About the only exceptions were
watered-down fruit juice and pork rinds for teething.
Ray Audette
Author "NeanderThin"
A Darwinian View of Obstructed Labor
Robert P. Roy, MD, FRCSC
Obstetrics & Gynecology 2003;101:397-401
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
http://www.greenjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/101/2/397
This essay discusses the evolutionary biology of dystocia. From a Darwinian
standpoint, the high frequency of dystocia observed today seems
evolutionarily untenable. Hunter-gatherers, most notably the Inuit [when
eating their traditional diet], appear not to suffer from dystocia.
From "Rising caesarean section rates: can evolution and ecology explain some
of the difficulties of modern childbirth?"
W A Liston FRCOG
Department of Obstetrics, Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health, Royal
Infirmary of Edinburgh
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
http://www.jrsm.org/cgi/content/full/96/11/559#REF15
[...] Why is it that modern human childbirth is so frequently associated
with difficulty? Only occasionally has anyone attempted to explain this.
[...]
With huge increases in population and later industrialization the life of
modern woman and man bears little relation to that of the hunter-gatherer.
Because biological evolution cannot keep pace, man is a hunter-gatherer
living in a 21st century world. Admittedly, where selection pressures have
been very strong (e.g. malaria and the haemoglobinopathies) there have been
genetic changes, but the species retains much of the physiology of
pre-agricultural times. Whereas hunter-gatherers went through tens of
thousands of generations there have been only 500 generations of
agriculturalists and just a few in the industrial era. Physicians and
nutritionists have therefore proposed that certain modern diseases,
particularly heart disease and type 2 diabetes, are caused by a maladaption
to our current lifestyle. Similar arguments can be applied to reproductive
health and obstetric performance.
CHANGES IN HUMAN ECOLOGY
There are four chief ways in which this misfit between biology and lifestyle
could affect childbirth-diet, population density, exercise and reproductive
behaviour. The diet in palaeolithic times was by most accounts richer in
protein and poorer in carbohydrate, with a different pattern of fats.8,9 It
was also very varied. In particular the carbohydrate component had little
refined starch and sugar with much more fibre. The agriculturalists then
moved to a diet with less protein and fat, and more complex carbohydrate.
The modern western diet contains a super-abundance of food, especially sugar
and fat with less protein than that of early upper palaeolithic man. In
poorer parts of the world where protein is scarce, food consists largely of
complex carbohydrate, but western tendencies and fast food are spreading to
all parts of the globe.8,9 [...]
What is not widely known is that the invention of agriculture and the
development of settled living had pronounced affects on physical stature.
Study of skeletons points to adverse changes in the teeth11 and a general
reduction of height.8,12-14 Angel 15 has charted the patterns over thousands
of years. Humans were tall in early upper palaeolithic times and did not
become as tall again until the late 20th century in Western Europe and the
USA. ....
CONCLUSION
Changes in diet, population density, exercise and reproductive behaviour
mean that primigravid women are commonly shorter, older and fatter than is
ideal for first childbirth. These adverse factors have been well
recorded....
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 13:57:19 -0500
Sender: Paleolithic Eating Support List
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From: Brad Cooley <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Healthy Babies
Justin,
.... My wife gave birth to our first child in April 2000. Before she
started incorporating paleo philosophy into her eating habits, she was
unable to conceive. Within 3 weeks of going paleo, she was pregnant...maybe
just a happy coincidence. During her pregnancy she gained only 25 lbs, gave
birth to a 7 lb 10 oz girl, was walking within an hour of the birth, and
dropped 35 lbs within a month (from pre-birth weight). I should point out
that she didnt always eat paleo foods, but stuck to it pretty well.
Certainly, her diet contributed to a relatively low weight gain, a
successful natural childbirth, and significant loss of weight after
childbirth.
Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 11:07:05 -0600
Sender: Paleolithic Eating Support List
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From: Jana Eagle <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: toddlers and paleo
Rebecca Fincher <[log in to unmask]> writes:
> 1. I was reading in the archives a chain titled "pain in childbirth?"
that
> interested me because of my experience with PPD (not known to be present
in
> tribal cultures or most "traditional" cultures)and because I have had 2
> C-sections (intended to have a natural birth both times). Is Ray
Audette's
> wife an isolated example of paleodiet eaters who give birth quickly and
w/o
> complications? Anyone else out there? Anyone with experience to the
> contrary? Is there any research on this available?
I can find out more about this, depending on your interest. I do know
someone personally who had a very easy, painless birth and was following a
paleo diet. I wish I knew of more paleo eaters and their birth experiences.
I imagine there are so many circumstances that affect birth that every
situation is different...
Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 20:21:11 -0700
Sender: Paleolithic Eating Support List
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From: Mermaid Rose <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Paleo pregnancy
To all the mamas-to-be, congratulations, and thanks for bringing healthy
babies to the world. Midwife here, doiing home births for 20 years, water
births as well... very ancient practices (duh, lol).
I believe paleo is the way of eating that creates healthier pregnancies.
Obviously we are here today because of how we ate. There are pregnancy
related health conditions that can be avoided by eating this way...ie
gestational diabetes and toxemia (both which are treated by upping
consumption of protein). ...
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