Why is childbirth so dangerous?

[wolfcub]

Excuse my ignorance but I kept phasing out during sex ed in middle school. I just wasn't ready to learn about the process of baby making

In movies, whenever a character is about to give birth, you always see people trying to rush her to the hospital in a panic. Why is that? What is it about having a baby that absolutely must be done in a hospital?

And what happens if it isn't? I've heard about mothers dying during childbirth. Is it that the sheer pain alone is enough to damage the nervous system and kill them? And what about the baby itself?

It just seems kind of cruel that Mother Nature would make it reproduction so dangerous for us, while every other animal can do it without killing themselves. I mean really, that's seems like a huge flaw in terms of evolution

[Sam W]

Hi Wolfcub,

So, some people actually do choose to have home births, or births at places other than hospitals. It all depends on things like the person giving birth, their preferences, and whether there are anticipated complications or health concerns that might make giving birth in a hospital preferable or safer. Because child birth is pretty dang painful, some people want to be in a place where they can get an epidural or other pain management medication during the process.

As far as why people can die in childbirth, it's not a matter of the pain being so intense it kills them. It's more that there are a lot of complications that can arise in the course of the birth. Severe blood loss, infection, and other complications can happen during or after birth, and if those are not treated effectively (and sadly, sometimes even if they are), the person who gave birth can die.

As an aside, other mammals can and do die in childbirth (That's why the seasons where livestock giving birth can be so stressful for farmers; if something goes sideways, the animal could die).