HW#35

Notes for Interview w/ Devin

-Why are women pregnant for 9 months?

Ans: Babies take 9 months to fully develop and be ready for delivery

(Although that doesn’t completely answer the question of why we evolved to be born in 9 months)

-Why did we develop in such a weird way that doesn’t prevent pain or fatalities on both the mothers and the childs end?

Response: Who knows? Maybe at some point women started having the need to grow a human in their body and deliver it through a hole that isn’t big enough.

-We are lucky we aren’t other mammals

Response: we definitely are otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation although I haven’t seen an animal cry as loud as a woman does during birth. “Yes, of course. By its very nature, giving birth is a painful process. However, for most animals, it is not so painful and traumatic as it is for humans. Because of our large brains, we are born with unusually large heads, which is going to smart a bit on the way out. Also, our upright stance alters the shape of the pelvis and birth canal, meaning that the baby has to turn on its way out - most animals don't have this problem. Also, animals do not advertise the fact that they are in pain by crying out during birth as humans do, since a newborn animal is very vulnerable to predation, as is a mother in the throes of birth and unable to run or defend herself - crying out would alert predators to her presence and distress, making herself and her young a target.”(Response from a zookeeper on yahoo answers to the question “Do Other Animals Feel Pain While Giving Birth, Like Humans (Females)?”)

-What are the chances?

Response: At this point of the conversation I asked myself “What are the chances that we, of the million different sperm contained by our father came to be instead of someone else?” Maybe we focus too much on appearance which is why we think to ourselves how can birth possibly be beautiful with all of the different liquids and discharge instead of looking at it as being beautiful and miraculous because of the one in a million chance that the baby emerging is a single sperm out of a million other possibilities.

-Why do women have cravings?

Ans: Because they are feeding themselves and the child

Follow up Question: But why do they ask for the weirdest things?

Ans: My mom says she used to eat corn cake with mayonnaise in the middle of the night and other foods that she never ate before or after the pregnancy. Some doctors say that hormonal shifts may intensify a woman sense of smell leading to different choices in food.