Female lower back has evolved to accommodate strain of pregnancy

[greiner3]

According to a new study by researchers at Harvard and the University of Texas at Austin, women's lower spines evolved to be more flexible and supportive than men's to increase comfort and mobility during pregnancy, and to accommodate the special biology of carrying a baby for nine months while standing on two feet.

The study published in the Dec. 13 edition of the journal Nature was led by Katherine Whitcome, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Anthropology in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, with Daniel Lieberman, professor of anthropology at Harvard, and Liza Shapiro, associate professor of anthropology of the University of Texas at Austin.

"Pregnancy presents an enormous challenge for the female body," says Whitcome. "The body must change in dramatic ways to accommodate the baby, and these changes affect a woman's stability and posture. It turns out that enhanced curvature and reinforcement of the lower spine are key to maintaining normal activities during pregnancy."

It has long been appreciated that giving birth to large-brained infants has influenced human pelvic shape, but there has been little attention paid to the major challenge that pregnant bipedal mothers endure when holding up an enormous fetus and placenta well in front of the hip joints. The study is the first of its kind to examine the evolutionary mechanisms that allow women to carry a baby to term, and the way that women's bodies compensate for increased weight in the abdomen during pregnancy.

http://www.fossilscience.com/research/Female_lower_back_has_evolved_to_accommodate_strain_of_pregnancy.asp

Great article! Only one problem that I see; I thought that Texas had outlawed research involving evolution... :rofl:

[knitter4democracy]

1. Then why did my back still hurt?

My second pregnancy especially. Ugh. That boy was huge.