The universal aspects of childbirth: Human birth as a socio-psychosomatic paradigm

Abstract

The birth of a human individual is a fascinating event that has always attracted the attention of artists, philosophers, priests, and scientists. The very fundamental process of birth can be looked at from as many angles as there are fields of human interest. We can study the mechanism of the birth process, paying attention to the size of the baby and the dimensions of the pelvis, pondering over the cause and significance of the internal rotation of the child; we can study the physiology of birth, looking for causes of the onset of labour and uterine contractility, of post-partum haemorrhage; we can study the emotions of the expectant parents, their feelings of pride and anxiety, their expectations of the newborn baby; we can speculate upon the sensations that the process of birth evokes in the unborn and the newborn baby; we can study the significance of social conditions on the birth process and the influence of the birth rate on social conditions; in short, birth—like death—belongs to the most fundamental and basic facts of life.