Kids Health Notes

Waddling like a duck? It’s part of pregnancy, and evolution

by Grace on December 24th, 2007

I used to walk like a graceful ballet dancer. HA! Not anymore, since my 6th month of pregnancy. These days, I walk waddle more like a duck… still looking pretty, but definitely ducky.

Now if you’re pregnant and feeling down about this, don’t.

A recent study showed it’s part of a woman’s adaptation to successfully carrying a growing human being to full term.

“Pregnancy presents an enormous challenge for the female body,” says Katherine Whitcome. “The body must change in dramatic ways to accommodate the baby, and these changes affect a woman’s stability and posture. It turns out that enhanced curvature and reinforcement of the lower spine are key to maintaining normal activities during pregnancy.”

To accommodate this shifted center of gravity, women’s spines have evolved to help offset the additional weight in the abdomen during pregnancy, so that the back muscles are not taxed in counter-balancing the destabilizing effects of the baby’s weight.

So waddle all you can, and do it with style! It says you’re a highly evolved species of the animal kingdom.

Read the full article at Science Daily. The study was published in Nature, December 13.; image

Tags: pregnancy, weight, spines, support, infant, posture

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POSTED IN: News, Research and Breakthroughs, Pregnancy and Parent Care