Pregnancy and Childbirth
In later stages of pregnancy the fetus's head aligns inside the pelvis. Also joints of bones soften due to the effect of pregnancy hormones. These factors may cause pelvic joint pain (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction or SPD). As the end of pregnancy approaches, the ligaments of the sacroiliac joint loosen, letting the pelvis outlet widen somewhat; this is easily noticeable in the cow.
During childbirth (unless by Cesarean section) the fetus passes through the maternal pelvic opening.
Read more about this topic: Human Pelvis
Famous quotes containing the words pregnancy and/or childbirth:
“It is now quite lawful for a Catholic woman to avoid pregnancy by a resort to mathematics, though she is still forbidden to resort to physics and chemistry.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“We in the West do not refrain from childbirth because we are concerned about the population explosion or because we feel we cannot afford children, but because we do not like children.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)