Caesarean sections are rising – but don’t blame mothers | Rebecca Schiller

Research saying mums with small pelvises perpetuate the need for caesareans simply feeds the media’s insatiable appetite for woman-blaming

Just when you thought the pressure on mothers couldn’t be any greater, science and the media machine that interprets it have come up with a brand new Darwin-shaped stick to beat us with. According to a “simple mathematical model” published this week, the rising rate of caesarean sections could be explained by an evolutionary trend whereby the procedure itself perpetuates small pelvises in women.

Babies who would previously have died during childbirth because they were unable to fit their large heads through their mothers’ narrow pelvises are now saved by caesarean sections. According to the theory, the small-pelvis genes of the mother are then passed on to the next generation, defying natural selection. Researchers predict that this will lead to an evolutionary loop requiring increasing numbers of caesareans as the generations go by.

Related: Forcing a woman to have a caesarean is an assault we won't tolerate | Rebecca Schiller

Related: 'A baby made his first sound on the 106 bus': readers share amazing birth stories | Guardian readers and Sarah Marsh

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from Pregnancy | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2h2peeV