Difficult birth has been recorded in species that seem, at first glance, to have little in common with humans. Even whales and dolphins show obstructed births, despite lacking a fully formed bony ...

For centuries, childbirth’s pain was explained as punishment; more recently, as the evolutionary price of walking upright and bearing large-brained babies. But if difficult birth occurs across ...

Human childbirth is commonly viewed as uniquely difficult and dangerous. The reason: The combination of bipedalism and large brains creates a tight fit between the baby and the birth canal. Research ...