Why is giving birth so painful and unpleasant?

[Norris63203]

Having a baby is a beautiful and wonderful thing to do so it doesn't make sense to me that it feels terrible, apparently. Shouldn't it be a happy experience?

Is a bit of mansplaining going on?
I am woman, I will carry a child safely inside my body and delivery that child, just as all of my female ancestors have for 3000 plus years.
Our body's evolved this way because it works, it is not pretty, it is not a party , it is hard labour.
But the reward is the child we deliver.
Now how about the males start delivering a fair distribution of care of this child. Man up.

What are you saying OP - are you saying you don’t believe that childbirth is painful and unpleasant?

Not entirely sure whether OP is saying that they don't believe it is really painful or saying that it's just a weird concept that something so wonderful is so painful.

Unfortunately one way humans have flourished is by developing large brains which has led to large heads. But in order to walk on two legs it narrows our pelvis and thus you get this pain issue. it's a weird evolutionary issue unfortunately.

Frankly I think the whole female reproductive hassle is a complete design fault. Menstruation........now who would sit down and design that?

If there is a god and I ever get to meet him/her I am going to have words!

I think some bloke(s) said it's to punish women for their sins.

Because you are essentially pushing a watermelon out of a keyhole 🤷🏾‍♀️

Apparently

It’s just biology. Nature works on a ‘it will do’ basis. It doesn’t need to be perfect or pain free because it makes no difference to the species survival. It hurts like hell for humans because mums body size vs baby’s size is at a crazy ratio. And there’s no reason for evolution to have made changes to that.

www.cdc.gov/women/lcod/2016/all-races-origins/index.htm

In 2016, USA, of all female deaths, approximately 1 in 50 died as a result of being pregnant. They are supposedly a first world country. It's much worse in third world countries.

I nearly died at birth, & I nearly died giving birth. I remember everything going black as I bled out. My parents were told I'd probably have brain damage due to oxygen deprivation. My DD was similar, she didn't breathe for several minutes. Only survived either because of free healthcare.

I nearly died, my baby nearly died. Really , really traumatic. And painful.

Doesn't really look like a walk in the park for any animal TBF.

Nature/evolution doesn't really give a shit about whether or not something is "beautiful and wonderful". As long as enough humans survive to continue the species it's all good as far as evolution is concerned.

I believe in areas where child and maternal mortality is high and contraception is difficult to get hold of the average number of babies born per woman is about six, but overall only two survive. That's nature for you.

Mysoginistic god.

Haha! ‘Apparently’

Because nature doesn’t give a fuck about your feelings, basically.

Evolution results in compromise. So, you need big heads for your big brains? No problem, but lots of babies and mothers will die. Never mind, that’s also fine because most of them will survive! Enough of them, anyway.

That’s why human babies are so tiny and helpless when they’re born. They have to come when they’re tiny - we simply can’t accommodate bigger heads without tipping the balance in a direction that would inhibit procreation.

@Lalliebelle

Can you imagine if men gave birth through the penis. Squeezing something out of the end of their penis. The penis is very likely to split open during this process. There are instruments to pull the baby out which may permanently damage the penis and make all future sex painful if not impossible for them. They might just cut the penis right open, no anaesthetic. THEY WOULD NOT STAND FOR IT! CS would be standard.

My thought process exactly! If my consultant is male and tries to overrule my Clin Psych's recommendation that I have a c-section due to (rational) fear of vb, I will be asking him whether he'd rather push a plum out of his manhood risking all that damage or have it surgically removed.

@Bollindger

Is a bit of mansplaining going on? I am woman, I will carry a child safely inside my body and delivery that child, just as all of my female ancestors have for 3000 plus years. Our body's evolved this way because it works, it is not pretty, it is not a party , it is hard labour. But the reward is the child we deliver. Now how about the males start delivering a fair distribution of care of this child. Man up.

Are you serious? Do you know how many women (and babies) have died and continue to die during childbirth? Do you not know about the serious and life-changing injuries women (and babies) can suffer from childbirth? Personally, I don't agree it works. That's why we have tearing and need stitches, episiotomies, forceps, ventouse, and emergency c-sections. Women wouldn't need regular medical check-ups all through pregnancy if it was as safe and natural as people like you make out it is. If women want to have a vb, brilliant! Let's not romanticize them and downplay the very real risks.

Most people just don't understand how evolution works (I studied palaeontology at university) and think if something exists, it is because it is a 'good' design. That's not the case. Evolution results in the 'least bad' outcome of random genetic mutations. In the case of humans, it is the 'least bad' combination of allowing us to have big brains, walk upright, and not have too many mothers/babies dying in childbirth. It's not 'designed', it's just the outcome that results in the optimum intersection of those three features that maximised survival of our ancestors.

That's why it REALLY bugs me in loads of birth materials they bang on about 'my body is designed to do this' - no, it's really not, unless you believe in a Creator God or intelligent design. If you believe in evolution your body and the way it births is just a result of our ancestors surviving ever so slightly better than someone with a very slightly different pelvis or brain size. It isn't a 'good' design.