Birth

Why Textbooks May Need to Update What They Say About Birth Canals

Why Textbooks May Need to Update What They Say About Birth Canals

A new study shows that the structure of the human pelvis varies between populations, which could have implications for how babies are birthed.

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A comparison of two human pelvises: The top is more oval in shape, representative of Europeans, North Africans and Native Americans. The bottom is more circular, representative of sub-Saharan Africans and Asians.CreditCreditLia Betti

By Steph Yin

Look up the term “pelvic canal” in the typical anatomy or obstetric textbook, and you likely will find a description such as this: “Well-built healthy women, who had a good diet during their childhood growth period, usually have a broad pelvis.”

Such a pelvis, the text continues, enables “the least difficulty during childbirth.”

But such characterizations have long been based on anatomical studies of people of European descent. In reality, the structure of the pelvic canalthe bony structure through which most of us enter the world, varies tremendously between populations, according to a new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The findings have implications for how obstetricians treat patients of color, the authors say. In the United States, racial disparities in maternal health care are prevalent. Compounding factors like interpersonal and institutional racism, poverty, poor health care access and environmental burdens disproportionately harm black mothers. These contribute to the risk of pregnancy-related deaths being three to four times higher for black women than for white women.

Limited prescriptions of what constitutes a “normal” pelvis or birthing process might lead doctors to perform unnecessary interventions — like induced labor, cesarean sections or the use of forceps — which can further exacerbate harm, said Lia Betti, an anthropologist at the University of Roehampton in London, and the study’s lead author.

 

“What worries me is that doctors come out of school thinking of the European model of the pelvis,” Dr. Betti said. In the early 1900s, this led to “horrific situations” in which American doctors used forceps on black mothers, trying to force babies to align with “the rotation pattern for a European classical pelvis,” she added.

Modern humans have narrow pelvises compared to the size of babies’ heads. That discrepancy contributes to higher rates of birthing complications in humans than in other primates.

Factors such as how long it takes a baby to progress through the canal, or which direction the head is facing on delivery, could change depending on pelvic shape.

There is no accepted explanation for why the human pelvis leaves such little room for childbirth. Dr. Betti and her colleague Andrea Manica, of the University of Cambridge, set out to study a classic if highly-contested explanation known as the “obstetrical dilemma” hypothesis.

The dilemma posits that as our species evolved and began walking upright, the width of the human pelvis narrowed, enabling the body’s weight to stay closer to its center of gravity. But as humans also developed bigger brains, it became harder for a fetus’s skull to squeeze through that tight channel.

To explore the idea, she and Dr. Manica measured 348 skeletons from around the world. They found that pelvic shape varied enormously, even more than measures of leg, arm and general body proportion that are known to vary significantly between populations. That was “remarkable and unexpected,” the researchers wrote.

Mostly, they found, pelvic shape varied along lines of geographic ancestry. People of sub-Saharan origin generally had the deepest pelvises back-to-front, while Native Americans had the widest side-to-side. Europeans, North Africans and Asians fell in the middle of the range.

Birth-canal shape also varied markedly within populations, although the variation decreased the farther a population originated from Africa. That finding is consistent with others indicating that a population’s genetic diversity declines the farther it moves from the cradle of humankind

Most of that variation in pelvic shape stemmed from random fluctuations in gene frequency, although natural selection seems to have played a minor role as well, Dr. Betti said. The top of the birth canal is slightly wider in populations from colder climates, perhaps to help make the body stockier.

The variation observed by Dr. Betti suggests that pelvic shape is not so strictly controlled. And if pelvic shape is highly variable across populations, it’s likely “that the birthing process is also highly variable,” said Helen Kurki, an anthropology professor at the University of Victoria in Canada.

These findings challenge the idea “that there is one ‘right’ way to birth a baby,” Dr. Kurki said, and suggest that a more individualized approach to childbirth might be better.

Although people differ from one another anatomically, Dr. Betti said, her research suggests that those differences are not always functional.

“If you look at the shape of the birth canal in different people, it could be tempting to think it’s adapted to give birth to babies with differently-shaped heads, or something like that,” she said.

“In fact, the differences are mostly by chance, which I think is beautiful. Sometimes human variation is just random.”

October 29, 2018 / by / in ,
Orgasmic Birth – Power, Pleasure and Love!

By Debra Pascali-Bonaro

Imagine the day you will give birth, bringing a new life into the world.
You have waited 9+ months – feeling new life moving within, anticipating labor, birth and what life will be like as a parent. What will your baby look like? What will labor be like? What will the first moments of welcoming your baby be like? What words will you say? What music will be playing?

Have you heard stories of labor as joyful, challenging, powerful, transformative, pleasurable, blissful and Orgasmic? If not, you are missing some of nature’s Best-Kept Secrets. If you have already given birth – these words might not seem familiar to you, and yet every person deserves to give birth with power, pleasure and love!

What has gone wrong? Why aren’t more people having powerful, positive, pleasurable birth experiences?
There are many reasons and first it is important to understand that giving birth is a right of passage, a transformation which causes us to stretch, to grow, to face challenges, and so for some birth will be painful – but that does not mean it also won’t also include pleasure, love, and great joy. Childbirth holds it all and yet we are only hearing half of the story.

Often the very practices that put us down literally into bed and emotionally as well create the likelihood that birth will be longer, more difficult, and more painful. The childbirth practices of today often create more pain and overuse of valuable medication, interventions and surgery – all of which are helpful in some instances but put others at risk with their overuse. So many surgeries could be avoided and reduced if we understood the simple ways to honor our natural ability to give birth and created environments and opportunities to prepare for and give birth honoring our physical, emotional, spiritual, and sexual wholeness and well-being.

You are the expert on your body and your baby! Your care providers should be like lifeguards there to help you when you need assistance, but otherwise they sit quietly in the corner as you navigate the gentle waters, giving you the privacy and safety you need to experience the intimacy and joy of childbirth.

How do you begin to prepare for an Orgasmic Birth? (using each letter for thought)
Origin
Where do your beliefs about childbirth come from and are they correct? Seek out and listen to powerful, pleasurable birth stories. When you hear birth stories that are challenging and/or distressing ask what they would do differently if they had the chance.

Respect
Respect yourself and make sure everyone on your birth team respects you!

Get up
Gravity Works! Don’t take it lying down! Alternate activity with rest to pace yourself in childbirth, but remember that gravity will help your baby move down.

Ask
for support and love from your partner, hire a doula and interview care providers to make sure your midwife or doctor sees birth as joyful and pleasurable.

Smile
Just the act of smiling when you feel down changes the hormonal flow and brings you into a state where you want to smile. The more you welcome labor and see it as a powerful and pleasurable event, the more it will become one.

Move
Dance your baby into the world and find positions that bring you comfort. Movement will help your baby move and find the easiest path into your arms.

Intimate
Birth is a part of your sexual life and the same elements that allow you to open to intimacy will help you open gently to give birth. Consider the lighting, sounds, smells, privacy,touch and sensuous kissing, stroking, and words that help you release to pleasure and equally be aware of any obstacles that will block that loving feeling.

Create
a language of pleasure. So many of the words about birth are illness based and leading to pain. What do you think of when you hear the word contraction? What the mind hears or sees the body feels. I love to call the sensations of labor “personal power surges”. When you re-language the experience many people find labor becomes less painful (or not painful at all), it can still be intense, challenging and strong, yet these are healthy sensations of your body doing the amazing work of birth.

Breathe
Your breath helps you to be mindful to stay present, bringing calmness into your body and releasing any tension or stress. Connect to your breathe as you welcome each surge.

Imagine
Visualize & focus on images of the birth you desire. Write down your birth desires remembering you are inviting your baby to share your desires too. Sometimes our children have different dreams, so if your baby chooses or needs another path, find elements in any birth setting or situation that bring you pleasure.

Rhythm
Labor and birth is a dance, the more you find your rhythm the easier it is. Rhythm can be like the gentle rocking of your baby and yourself, your breathe, a mantra or chant.

Touch
yourself or invite others you feel safe with to give you loving touch that will stimulate your pleasure and love hormones. Oxytocin, the hormone of love, and beta endorphin, the hormone of pleasure are the same hormones of intimacy and these hormones make birth easier and more orgasmic! What turns you on in life can turn you on in labor! Create an environment of privacy and safety for a safe, satisfying and pleasurable birth!

Heart
Open your heart chakra. “All you need is Love” – Love yourself, love your baby and invite those who love you to share their love with you. Imagine what would you like to hear and feel if you were baby? Nestled in a dark world – baby can hear the sounds outside. What sounds, feelings and sensations would you want your baby to be feeling as they leave their current home and move into your arms. Send your baby your love, talk with your baby sharing how much you love them and are looking forward to meeting them. We often forget the baby during the intensity of birth, but connecting during birth and creating a gentle loving birth helps a baby to breastfeed, bond and relax knowing they are welcome and loved. Opening your heart and preparing to welcome your baby with love and pleasure sets the stage for a lifetime of love!
https://www.orgasmicbirth.com/orgasmic-birth-power-pleasure-love/?utm_source=ONTRAPORT-email-broadcast&utm_medium=ONTRAPORT-email-broadcast&utm_term=OB+Opt-in&utm_content=What+has+gone+wrong%3F&utm_campaign=10042018

October 8, 2018 / by / in