Version 1
: Received: 25 September 2024 / Approved: 26 September 2024 / Online: 26 September 2024 (16:20:17 CEST)
How to cite:
Light, L.; Virdee, S.; Dickens, C.; Diogo, R. Obstructed Labor, Evolution, and Health Disparities. Preprints2024, 2024092143. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.2143.v1
Light, L.; Virdee, S.; Dickens, C.; Diogo, R. Obstructed Labor, Evolution, and Health Disparities. Preprints 2024, 2024092143. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.2143.v1
Light, L.; Virdee, S.; Dickens, C.; Diogo, R. Obstructed Labor, Evolution, and Health Disparities. Preprints2024, 2024092143. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.2143.v1
APA Style
Light, L., Virdee, S., Dickens, C., & Diogo, R. (2024). Obstructed Labor, Evolution, and Health Disparities. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.2143.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Light, L., Colin Dickens and Rui Diogo. 2024 "Obstructed Labor, Evolution, and Health Disparities" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.2143.v1
Abstract
The female pelvis is often evolutionarily described as a compromise to accommodate the birthing process and bipedalism. This compromise puts a mother and baby at risk for fetopelvic disproportion, the mismatch between the size of the fetus and the mother's pelvis, impacting the ease at which the vaginal birthing process occurs. Obstructed labor, commonly caused by fetopelvic disproportion, is a leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity and has serious medical sequelae for the fetus. In this review, this evolutionary aspect of fetopelvic disproportion is being reconsidered within a broader sociocultural and environmental approach related to a change of paradigm from a more reductionist Neo-Darwinist to a more encompassing Extended Evolutionary Synthesis view. The review explores a more comprehensive understanding of several factors related to fetopelvic disproportion, including socioeconomic factors and ethnic disparities amongst individuals that might lead to a higher likelihood of obstructed labor and maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
