While bringing new life into the world is often viewed as one of life's most joyful moments, childbirth continues to pose serious risks for women - with more than 287,000 maternal deaths recorded ...

Human birth is far more challenging than that of other primates. In 1960, anthropologist Sherwood Washburn proposed a widely accepted explanation for the tight squeeze a baby experiences passing ...

According to a study released earlier this year, 62% of pregnant women who were surveyed had “high levels of fear” about giving birth. There’s a technical term for this fear when it becomes extreme — ...

Human babies are born remarkably helpless, a deliberate evolutionary advantage. This early dependence allows for extended brain development outside t ...

McGill University researchers at the Douglas Research Centre have found evidence that heavy cannabis use during pregnancy can cause delays in brain development in the fetus that persist into adulthood ...

His innovations, including homelike delivery rooms and birthing pools, were based on his belief that “human birth cannot work as long as a woman is thinking.” By Adam Nossiter Michel Odent, a French ...