Why is it, unlike other animals, humans need assistance to deliver the baby?”
The brains of human infants are larger compared to their body size/weight than any other animal and it is really hard for women to squeeze it through the birth canal. Death during (or immediately after) childbirth was perhaps the most common cause of death for women for most of history. So some assistance is actually very helpful and beneficial. However, it could be argued that the amount of medical intervention and involvement common in births in the U.S and Europe is at or past the saturation point. In other words it is not really reducing the mortality rate any further. But it is providing jobs for many medical personnel – particullarly doctors. When my girl was born it was in a hospital setting. My wife and I were in a room by ourselves, a nurse checked in every 15-30 minutes, and the doctor came by once or twice over a four hour period. When my girl was born I was the only one standing up. I called the nurse, she called the doctor. He came in and declared everything was OK and lef
