Solitary birth is the relatively unusual[1] circumstance of human women delivering babies alone. Solitary birth is typically unplanned and thus is distinct from the unassisted birth movement.
Carla Emery provided guidelines for solitary delivery of "wilderness babies" in her Encyclopedia of Country Living. Key directives from the section "Giving Birth by Yourself" included don't yank on the umbilical cord and do clear mucus from the baby's nose and mouth.[2] Many inadvertent born before arrival (BBA) outside-of-hospital deliveries in automobiles are de facto solitary births.[3] These deliveries tend to be second or third or higher-order births.[3]
Solitary birth is a cultural practice of the !Kung people; solitary birth amongst the !Kung demonstrates female bravery. In practice, primigravidas are usually assisted by female relatives but multigravidas typically manage the entire birth process alone (and silently) in the bush.[4] Bariba women in Benin have also traditionally practiced solitary birth.[5] The Rarámuri people of northern Mexico have been the focus of public health efforts to decrease maternal mortality by encouraging the use of birth attendants.[6][7]
The common use of midwives or birth assistants in human culture is thought to date to the "pelvic reorientation associated with bipedalism" and was reinforced by the "encephalization seen in the genus Homo."[8] Humans may have evolved obligate midwifery as a cultural adjunct to childbirth due to the occiput anterior position of newborns emerging from the vagina, because human newborns are particularly altricial, and for social-emotional reasons.[1] However a 2018 observational study found that bonobos exhibit "midwifery" behaviors as well and postulated that the practice was related to a primate-level "capacity of unrelated females to form strong social bonds and cooperate."[9]
^ ab"The Sociality of Birth and the Prevalence of Obligate Midwifery". Ebrary. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
^Emery, Carla (2019). The encyclopedia of country living (50th anniversary ed.). Seattle. ISBN 978-1-63217-289-1. OCLC 1097577213.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ ab"Unexpected births in cars and bathrooms: Why some babies are born before arrival at hospital - ABC News". amp.abc.net.au. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
^Konner, Melvin; Shostak, Marjorie (1987). "Timing and Management of Birth among the !Kung: Biocultural Interaction in Reproductive Adaptation". Cultural Anthropology. 2 (1): 11–28. doi:10.1525/can.1987.2.1.02a00030. ISSN 0886-7356. JSTOR 656392.
^OLENJA, J.M.; KIMANI, V.N. (1998). "The Role of Men in Birthing and Postpartum Care". Cambridge Anthropology. 20 (1/2): 136–145. ISSN 0305-7674. JSTOR 23820314.
^Miller, Janneli F. (2018), Schwartz, David A. (ed.), "Misconceived Mortality: Solitary Birth and Maternal Mortality Among the Rarámuri of Northern Mexico", Maternal Death and Pregnancy-Related Morbidity Among Indigenous Women of Mexico and Central America, Global Maternal and Child Health, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 349–368, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71538-4_18, ISBN 978-3-319-71537-7, retrieved 2023-04-15
^Chopel, Alison M. (2014-05-04). "Reproductive health in indigenous Chihuahua: giving birth 'alone like the goat'". Ethnicity & Health. 19 (3): 270–296. doi:10.1080/13557858.2013.771150. ISSN 1355-7858. PMID 23444879. S2CID 45383831.
^Evolution and Childbirth: An Evaluation of Obstetrical Practices from an Evolutionary Perspective Caitlin Garland (Department of Anthropology, University of Florida), https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/AA/00/06/02/70/00001/caitlinegarland-Thesis-finaldraft.pdf
^Demuru, Elisa; Ferrari, Pier Francesco; Palagi, Elisabetta (September 2018). "Is birth attendance a uniquely human feature? New evidence suggests that Bonobo females protect and support the parturient". Evolution and Human Behavior. 39 (5): 502–510. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.05.003. S2CID 149489276.
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