Page 66 - Summer 2017 Journal

Vaughan’s research distilled “three essentials” of easy childbirth: a round pelvic brim, flexible joints and natural posture.
were perfect. Now the teeth begin to decay, the race suffers from consumption, and there is also trouble in childbirth.” Best attributed the problems with childbirth to “the adoption of European medicines, food, and clothing.”
THE THREE ESSENTIALS
Vaughan’s research distilled “three es-
sentials” of easy childbirth: a round pelvic brim, flexible joints and natural posture. With regard to the first, Vaughan identified several reasons why a round or circular pelvic brim facilitates easy labor. First, a round brim offers the self-evident advantage of making everything roomier. Second, the round brim “matches the halo measure [circumference] of the fetal head, so that they fit as a cup and ball fit one another.” Just as important, the round brim “always co- exists with a well-shaped outlet,” which offers the baby easier passage through the birth canal.
Unfortunately, Vaughan observed that a trend toward an oval rather than circular brim had accompanied the advances of “civiliza- tion.” In a simple but compelling illustration (Figure 1), Vaughan noted that the circle and oval have the same circumference, but the oval has less area and causes more difficulties dur- ing childbirth. Vaughan then asked her readers
to consider why this “strange metamorphosis” from round to oval occurs. It turns out that the other two “essentials” have something to do with it. For example, mobile pelvic joints play a key role in the development of normal pelvic shape. Vaughan cited a researcher who believed that “much backache and suffering which women endure might be entirely avoided if young and growing female children were made to do exercises in the prone position at school, such as crawling exercises—to keep the sacro-iliac joints supple—which will be of such value to them when they reach the child-bearing age.”
Drawing on anthropological evidence, Vaughan also pointed out the especially critical role of posture, the third “essential.” Anyone who has contemplated the superb photos in Esther Gokhale’s book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back,14 will understand Vaughan’s statement that “posture and posture alone can cause modi- fications in the skeleton of a person in perfect health.” Vaughan noted that habits such as sit- ting for long hours at school could bring about undesirable changes in structure.
Vaughan emphasized that the pelvis is the most rapidly growing part of the whole body, but particularly during the crucial preadolescent and early adolescent years. Vaughan’s discussion of
FIGURE 1: Distorted pelvic opening in a European woman versus a normal round pelvic opening in a traditional woman.
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Wise Traditions SUMMER 2017