crazyhadron t1_ive494i wrote
Reply to comment by AlternativeBasket in TIL that most non-human primate infants actively use their hands to help themselves out of the birth canal. Human infants do not, but their grip strength is much higher during the hours immediately after they are born. by afeeney
Nah, the bottleneck (heh) is the amount of energy a baby needs to survive within the womb. Birth happens when the placenta's throughput isn't enough to sustain the baby much longer, and it triggers the delivery process.
Kinda wonky to think that boobs are able to push much more nutrients through them than the placenta itself. Anywhere between 500-700kcals, that's as much as the brain itself uses and it's the most energy-intensive organ in the human body.
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