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Elephant birth
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<blockquote data-quote="GoingNorth" data-source="post: 319897" data-attributes="member: 1963"><p>Actually, depending on anatomy, it might be "easier" for an 6ton animal to deliver a 100lb infant that it would be for a 1.5 ton animal to do so.</p><p></p><p>I know that the process takes a lot longer and seems more painful to horses where foals commonly weigh 100lbs and up. But "pain" is a relative thing and there is no way, looking at the elephant's posture and expression that you can tell me that she isn't hurting.</p><p></p><p>What surprised me is that "breech" births don't seem to be a big deal in this species. I'd guess due to the anatomy of the mother.</p><p></p><p>People just "don't get it". We humans have such a tough time delivering due to a combination of a pelvis modified for upright walking, and infants born with comparatively huge skull sizes. That and the fact that human infants are comparatively huge.</p><p></p><p>I can remember being the midwife for many litters of cats over the years. They used to just amaze me. They'd be miserable during the last couple of weeks of pregnancy (same stuff as human women go through).</p><p></p><p>And, once labor hit, it it hard and fast. Cats, like most other mammals out there, have a uterus divided into two "horns". They almost always have young in both horns. So, they have to go through the last stage of labor twice. Luckily, nature usually gives them a sort of break in between before switching horns.</p><p></p><p>It is not unusual to seek a cat actually get up, get something to eat, have a drink, etc.</p><p></p><p>So, here you have a 10-14 lb mother giving birth to multiple kittens weighing 3-5 oz. (We are talking Maine Coons here, which is why all the weights are so high)...it's hard on them, too.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GoingNorth, post: 319897, member: 1963"] Actually, depending on anatomy, it might be "easier" for an 6ton animal to deliver a 100lb infant that it would be for a 1.5 ton animal to do so. I know that the process takes a lot longer and seems more painful to horses where foals commonly weigh 100lbs and up. But "pain" is a relative thing and there is no way, looking at the elephant's posture and expression that you can tell me that she isn't hurting. What surprised me is that "breech" births don't seem to be a big deal in this species. I'd guess due to the anatomy of the mother. People just "don't get it". We humans have such a tough time delivering due to a combination of a pelvis modified for upright walking, and infants born with comparatively huge skull sizes. That and the fact that human infants are comparatively huge. I can remember being the midwife for many litters of cats over the years. They used to just amaze me. They'd be miserable during the last couple of weeks of pregnancy (same stuff as human women go through). And, once labor hit, it it hard and fast. Cats, like most other mammals out there, have a uterus divided into two "horns". They almost always have young in both horns. So, they have to go through the last stage of labor twice. Luckily, nature usually gives them a sort of break in between before switching horns. It is not unusual to seek a cat actually get up, get something to eat, have a drink, etc. So, here you have a 10-14 lb mother giving birth to multiple kittens weighing 3-5 oz. (We are talking Maine Coons here, which is why all the weights are so high)...it's hard on them, too. [/QUOTE]
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