0:00
Hello, my name is Wenda Trevathan,
and I'm Professor of Anthropology
at New Mexico State University
in the United States.
In this presentation,
which I have entitled
"Evolutionary Obstetrics",
I want to provide an evolutionary
medicine perspective
on human birth.
In order to do this,
I want to place birth
in the context
of human evolutionary history.
0:22
I have three objectives
in this presentation.
First, I want to describe
the evolutionary history
of human birth,
highlighting its unique aspects.
I also intend to illuminate
the deep evolutionary roots
of the human need
for assistance at birth.
And to understand something
about how humans give birth
in the presence
of other individuals
rather than in solitude,
as many mammals do.
And I want to demonstrate the value
of an evolutionary approach
in medicine,
especially for obstetrics.
0:51
There are a number of ways
in which human birth
illustrates the principles
of evolutionary medicine
that have been reviewed
in some of the other lectures
in this series.
It's an excellent example
of the lack of perfection
in design.
In fact, human birth
is often used as good evidence
against the idea
of an intelligent designer
because of all
the complications associated
with labor and delivery.
The way humans give birth
results from a series of tradeoffs
that have left the body vulnerable
to a number of challenges.
Discomfort during
labor and delivery
may have both proximate
and ultimate explanations.
And birth illustrates
the Trivers hypothesis
about parent-infant conflict.
The terms highlighted are
some of the classic terms
used in evolutionary medicine.
1:32
It's important to remember
that evolution is about
survival and reproductive success.
In order for genes to be subject
to natural selection,
individuals need to survive
to the point
where they can reproduce
and then pass them along
to succeeding generation.
The moment of birth is probably
the single most risky hour
in the normal life course.
Therefore,
it's a point of
intense natural selection.
And the survival
and reproductive success
of two individuals is at stake,
the mother and the infant.
There are, in association
with this,
numerous tradeoffs
with regard to birth
in the course of human evolution.
