The Evolutionary Origins of Obstructed Labor: Bipedalism, Encephalization, and the Human Obstetric Dilemma

@article{Wittman2007TheEO,
  title={The Evolutionary Origins of Obstructed Labor: Bipedalism, Encephalization, and the Human Obstetric Dilemma},
  author={Anna Blackburn Wittman and L. Lewis Wall},
  journal={Obstetrical \& Gynecological Survey},
  year={2007},
  volume={62},
  pages={739-748}
}
Obstructed labor is a common complication of human childbirth. In parts of the world where access to emergency obstetric services is limited, obstructed labor is a major cause of maternal mortality. Women who survive the ordeal of prolonged obstructed labor often end up suffering from an obstetric vesicovaginal fistula or another serious birth injury that leaves them crippled for life. Compared with the other higher primates (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans), these problems are… 
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