# Do Other Animals Have As Much Pain As Humans When Giving Birth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261 "2011-05-09T12:27:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/1 "2011-05-09T12:27:59Z")
Seems fairly obvious most female humans giving birth have a considerable amount of pain, but does this apply to other animals? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/2 "2011-05-09T12:33:59Z")
I seriously doubt it. Humans are in a unique position – our upright stance has caused us several problems,including lower back pain and a very different birth process. Couple that with the unusually large size of the human brain (the head actually deforms significantly during birth – see models in the American Museum of Natural History, the Boston Museum, of Science, and elsewhere) and you have a very complex birth procedure, even if not complications develop. [http://www.umm.edu/imagepages/17176.htm](http://www.umm.edu/imagepages/17176.htm) ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/3 "2011-05-09T13:47:23Z")
I nominate [spotted hyenas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_Hyena#Reproduction_and_development) as being worse off. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/4 "2011-05-09T15:19:07Z")
I’d assume many animals have the same problem as humans, a large newborn head size relative to mother’s size – hose, cow, elephant seem to have at least some difficulty. No animal has it as bad as humans – large skill, and mother’s bipedial stance, but I’ve definitely seen Nature specials with other primates having some difficulty, I think the one I’m thinking of is Japanese Macaque. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/5 "2011-05-09T15:45:51Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > I’d assume many animals have the same problem as humans, a large newborn head size relative to mother’s size – hose,. It is simply not the case that horses labor painfully for 12, 24, or 36 hours. Labor in horses takes about 30-45 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/6 "2011-05-09T15:57:26Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > I nominate [spotted hyenas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_Hyena#Reproduction_and_development) as being worse off. I had no idea what you were on about until I saw: [QUOTE=wikipedia article] Birth is difficult, as females have to give birth through their narrow clitoris. [/QUOTE] :eek: For REALS?!? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/7 "2011-05-09T17:14:23Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > For REALS?!? Humans are not that different. [Human clitoral tissue doesn’t just make up the clitoris, but spreads out through the vagina.](http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitoris) Which the baby’s head passes. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/8 "2011-05-09T17:18:06Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > I nominate [spotted hyenas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_Hyena#Reproduction_and_development) as being worse off. They’re not laughing NOW. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/9 "2011-05-10T07:31:44Z")
I asked a few animals about this, but I did not get any very helpful answers. Seriously, is there really a way to rate how much something hurts apart from asking? (And even asking is not a very good way.) (I still would not want to be a female hyena, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/10 "2011-05-10T08:10:13Z")
[Kiwis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi#Behaviour_and_ecology) might be a candidate. > [@](#): > > Kiwi eggs can weigh up to one quarter the weight of the female. Usually only one egg is laid per season. The kiwi lays the biggest egg in proportion to its size of any bird in the world,[9] so even though the kiwi is about the size of a domestic chicken, it is able to lay eggs that are about six times the size of a chicken’s egg.[10][11] Eggs are smooth in texture, and are ivory or green-ish white.[12] The male incubates the egg, except for the Great spotted kiwi, A. haastii, where both parents are involved. The incubation period is 63–92 days.[7] Producing the huge egg places a lot of demands on the female. For the thirty days it takes to grow the fully developed egg the female must eat three times her normal amount of food. Two to three days before the egg is laid there is little space left inside the female for her stomach and she is forced to fast ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/11 "2011-05-10T12:36:26Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I asked a few animals about this, but I did not get any very helpful answers. > > Seriously, is there really a way to rate how much something hurts apart from asking? (And even asking is not a very good way.) > > (I still would not want to be a female hyena, though.) Well, I can tell, somewhat, if an animal is in pain just by watching it, if I’m familiar with the animal, or at least familiar with that species. And the narrowness of the birth canal vs. the size of the baby’s head has to have some significance. I was in labor for 18 hours to deliver ONE infant, for instance, and I wouldn’t have delivered her that soon if I hadn’t been on pitocin. On the other hand, I’ve watched cats give birth. For the most part, the queens were relaxed, with only a “MEOW” when they passed each kitten. And it was over in a couple of hours, none of this taking nearly a full day to have one infant, they had their kittens, plural, in a short time. Of course cats don’t usually have other cats around them to fend off predators, and to bring them ice chips, and generally support them through labor, but dogs also have their pups quickly. And **CalMeacham** brings up a VERY good point. Humans are really not adapted well to give birth efficiently, and we shouldn’t be doing it on our backs. We’re still in the process of adapting to an upright stance. We don’t walk well, and we don’t give birth well. Our pelvic girdles are almost too small for our babies’ skulls. And not too long ago, a lot of women died because of this. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/12 "2011-05-10T15:50:34Z")
So how should women be giving birth, if not lying on our backs? Standing up to let gravity help out? Who catches the kid when it falls? Or should it be done in a pool? ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/13 "2011-05-10T16:42:05Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > So how should women be giving birth, if not lying on our backs? I would recommend one of [these](http://www.colitz.com/site/3216423/3216423.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/14 "2011-05-10T18:00:23Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > So how should women be giving birth, if not lying on our backs? Standing up to let gravity help out? Who catches the kid when it falls? Or should it be done in a pool? A lot of cultures throughout history and in different parts of the world have women giving birth squatting, or sitting in a supported manner, which allows some assistance by gravity. In Ancient Egypt a phrase like “sitting on the bricks” was a euphemism for giving birth, as apparently they would pile up bricks to provide a sort of open-bottomed seat for laboring women. It wasn’t until male doctors got involved that giving birth while lying on one’s back became normal anywhere, and it was mainly for the doctor’s convenience. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/15 "2011-05-10T18:02:10Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Seems fairly obvious most female humans giving birth have a considerable amount of pain, but does this apply to other animals? How about butterflies, moths, and the like when they emerge from their chrysalis? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/16 "2011-05-10T18:19:40Z")
> [@squidfood](#): > > I would recommend one of [these](http://www.colitz.com/site/3216423/3216423.htm). Birth enablers, or torture devices. On the next _Oprah_. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/17 "2011-05-10T19:31:04Z")
> [@](#): > > And CalMeacham brings up a VERY good point. Humans are really not adapted well to give birth efficiently, and we shouldn’t be doing it on our backs. When my mom was delivering me, she told the OB/Gyn that she wanted to “pull carrots”, that being the best way she could describe the squatting posture which felt most natural to her. > [@](#): > > Who catches the kid when it falls? If you’re squatting (not standing), then there wouldn’t be enough of a fall to worry about. But anyway, humans are a social species, and there have always been midwives or the equivalent (the father or the mother’s female relatives, if nothing else) to help out with births. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/18 "2011-05-10T20:57:59Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Humans are not that different. [Human clitoral tissue doesn’t just make up the clitoris, but spreads out through the vagina.](http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitoris) Which the baby’s head passes. Yeah, but is it really accurate to describe it as “giving birth through a narrow clitoris”? Wouldn’t “narrow vagina” be more accurate? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/19 "2011-05-10T21:47:21Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > A lot of cultures throughout history and in different parts of the world have women giving birth squatting, or sitting in a supported manner, which allows some assistance by gravity. In Ancient Egypt a phrase like “sitting on the bricks” was a euphemism for giving birth, as apparently they would pile up bricks to provide a sort of open-bottomed seat for laboring women. > > It wasn’t until male doctors got involved that giving birth while lying on one’s back became normal anywhere, and it was mainly for the doctor’s convenience. Usually, women squatted or used a birthing stool, I guess the bricks were piled into an open seated chair sort of thing. [http://www.bornonstools.com/oak.html](http://www.bornonstools.com/oak.html) [http://nwbirthstool.com/](http://nwbirthstool.com/) I’ve read that King Louis XIV got some of his jollies by watching his mistress giving birth, and in order to do that, she had to be lying down during labor and delivery. I’m not sure how much I believe this. I tend to believe that it was doctors who found that it was easier on THEM if the mother was lying down. ---
**Author:** ![Halosweb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@Halosweb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Halosweb)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261/20 "2014-09-09T17:52:48Z")
Proves The Bible Is Wrong And Inconsistent Once Again, because the Bible said God cursed ONLY woman (He didn’t say anything about animals,) that she would give birth in pain. When God created animals, they were not already cursed like woman was cursed after she sinned, by giving birth in pain. A curse is a curse, so if its a curse to give birth in pain, then God wouldn’t have created animals to give birth in pain too, because He didn’t:) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-animals-have-as-much-pain-as-humans-when-giving-birth/581261.md?page=2)