Why don't pregnant women topple over?

Posted on Dec 13th 2007 8:30AM by Adams Briscoe

When you think about it, the human body is really amazing. Women who are pregnant, by any practical understanding of physics, should just topple right over by full-term. But they don't... why is that? Well, good thing we have people in lab coats working to find answers to questions like that every day. Because a new study is out addressing this very issue!

According to this website, a woman with "average" weight should gain upwards of 35 pounds. While not all in front, it makes me wonder how their back doesn't hurt all day long. The study says that evolution provided women with different joints located in their backs and hips. This actually allows them to adjust their center of gravity!

Amazing as it is, these differences had gone unnoticed all this time. So what enables them to do this is a wedge-shaped lumbar vertebra in the lower back. In men, it's square. An important hip joint is also significantly larger (14 percent) than it is in men of comparable size. These subtle differences in anatomy allow women to carry babies without experiencing a whole lot of pain. They can also keep their balance by shifting weight differently!

Another one of life's little wonders. Now how do guys with big bellies do it?

Who's the sexiest pregnant celeb?

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62 Comment

Tags: balance, pregnant, study, topple, trip, weight, women

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

jennifer 12-16-2007 @ 6:36AM

While not all in front, it makes me wonder how their back doesn't hurt all day long...

WHO SAYS IT DOESN'T? I had one child in 1992, my back hurt then - during my pregnancy - and still does TO THIS DAY! I just had two eiprural steriod injections last week to try to relieve a chronic pinched nerve. My mother and two sisters ALSO developed sciatic nerve problems after pregnancies.

The thing is... People just don't know that women are in pain because they don't piss and moan about every ache and pain like men do. A headcold does NOT mean you are on your deathbed! LOL

Jenny 12-16-2007 @ 11:57AM

I so totally agree with you. I had twins going on 6 yrs ago, and I still feel the pain from the pregnancy.

Trish 12-16-2007 @ 6:50AM

my upper back bothered me when I carried all three of my boys... and I, too, developed sciatic problems but blamed it on a crappy mattress.

I now get acupuncture and it's like I've gotten my life back.. I had instant relief and continue to have it now. it might be a good way for some of you to go if you have back issues... no meds is the best part of acupuncture :)

jessi 12-16-2007 @ 8:07AM

Jennifer, I totally agree!! That is a major difference between women and (a whole lot of) men, very rarely can you tell we are in pain or are sick as we keep very quiet about it! I will say though, when I had 2 of my kids (my second was a c-section so I was in an operating room), there were a few women who screamed and yelled enough for me to ask a nurse to please tell them to shut up! One even got my epidural (eventhough I was further along) because she was making so much noise and there was only one anestatist on duty so I got to go all natural for a second time! Thank God my 2 boys are quiet like me, and not whinners like thier dad!!!

norssnow 12-16-2007 @ 8:59AM

Oh my God are they kidding. I had 5 children, 3 natural (one was 9lbs and 6oz) 2 c-sections. My back hurts all the time, especially in the Winter. The people who wrote this have never had a child. And my husband knows better than to piss and moan about anything around me.lol The crazy thing is I'd do it all again. I love them all. WHO's THE MAN NOW!! lol

Mary 12-16-2007 @ 9:16AM

I am sitting here typing this in agony. :)
I am currently pregnant with my 4th child.
My kids are 5 / 3 / and baby just turned 1.
I am due in March... my 4th C Section.

I don't know of any pregger lady who hasn't complained of a back ache.

I am short.. and I almost toppled over once .... I was so off balance, despite the whole shift in gravity.

Ah.. Gravity.
I won't even tell you what gravity has done to the "girls".
*sigh*

mk

Casey 12-16-2007 @ 9:25AM

Amen, Jennifer! I'm currently pregnant, I'm naturally built with no rear end, narrow hips and large breasts. Now, all my pregnancy "weight" is in the front. I know all the weirdness I feel in my body is only going to get worse and worse and my back and hips (which are already in bad shape probably from my disproportioned body) are going to be waaaay worse than they already are. But do I complain about it constantly and lie in bed as if I were dying? Nope. But I guarantee you my husband would.

margie 12-16-2007 @ 9:56AM

Who says our backs dont hurt? My back is killing me. It's just that I don't compain about it. I am 34 weeks pregnant, work 8 hours a day on my feet with my pelvis crunching when I walk and the entire right side of my upper and lower legs feels like it is covered in fire ants. AND who says we dont topple over? My husband cannot be bothered to take our 115 pound dog out, so I have to do it and if she bumps me or pulls me I lose my balance and fall. If my husband has a headache you would think he will die. I have yet to ever come home from work and have a plate of food waiting for me or a warm bath, but when I finally get to sleep he has no problem calling me when he is on his way home at 1230am asking me to make sure his food and bath are ready. Yeah whoever wrote this needs to do some more digging and find out how pregnant women really feel.

Jenny 12-16-2007 @ 10:19AM

Margie, sounds like you might need to talk to your husband, or maybe have him read your post. Have you told your Dr about the "fire ants" pain. Sounds like you have a pinched nerve or something which might not be good for the baby. Take care of yourself!!

MemphisMama 12-16-2007 @ 10:50AM

I sure enjoyed the comedic relief this morning. Gee, I knew about the center of gravity shift years ago. And our backs don't hurt? HAHAHAHAHAHA.

CHARLES 12-16-2007 @ 10:03AM

WHY DO WOMEN PUT THEM SELFS THROUGHT ALL THAT PAIN

ber 12-16-2007 @ 11:43AM

Why do we put ourselves through all of that pain?? The beautiful children we have! That's why!! No man would ever understand that! When I had my first child- a 9lb 4oz baby..naturally... he said I was more of a man than he was! Men do not understand and probably never will.

Dave 12-16-2007 @ 10:07AM

YOU MEAN THEY'RE ACTUALLY PAYING PEOPLE TO DO A STUDY OF THIS ? HOW RIDICULOUS AND SUCH A WASTE OF MONEY

detmer1 12-16-2007 @ 10:20AM

Of course a man had to wright that. Women are expected to never be sick or in pain. We can carry a baby for 9 months but we are expected to keep right on going like nothing is wrong.

I have 2 kids and my back is still paying for it. But a mother doesn't have time to complain like a man does and we don't have time to lay around and whine about being sick. My children were born in a hospital that did not give pain meds during labor which was why I chose that hospital. We just know how to suck it up and go on.

Men take a lesson from women.

margie 12-16-2007 @ 10:36AM

Hey Jenny, yeah my doc knows about the fire ants thing, it is cuz the hormones loosen everything up and just like u said it is a pinched nerve, but goes away a couple months after the baby gets here when i drop off the weight. As for the hubby he is pretty hopeless........thanks for your reply...and to all the men on here that are asking why we put ourselves thru pregnancy.......how else would your precious genes live on??? and there is a reason that we dont make it a habit to complain, having childen is part of being a woman. I have yet to see a man that could handle the birth let alone 40 weeks of pregnancy.

may 12-16-2007 @ 10:41AM

34 yrs later and my back still hurts!

Joe White 12-16-2007 @ 10:56AM

Women of the World, I commend you. Men could never endure the pain and discomfort of pregnancies. After the first guy ever became pregnant and gave birth, word would get around, and the species would have died out long ago! Men are conditioned to constantly complain about pain, headaches, fevers and upset stomaches goes back to being overly mothered. My Mom, bless her soul would have none of it. She would just tell me to suck it in and take it, even to the point of refusing to take me to the hospital for stiches when needed. But sure, I still complain, we love the attention! Congrats women.

cali 12-16-2007 @ 11:05AM

Who are they kidding? Of course we have back pain when we're pregnant. Here's what I want to know, if our hips/spines are so much more advanced, why do I see so many spindly legged men with big huge beer bellies? Why don't they topple over?

STEPHEN TURNER 12-16-2007 @ 11:40AM

I am a 56 year old male and I rarely complain about my aches and pains, most of which come from old sports injuries which I feel every minute of every day. I train and follow a good diet to keep myself fit and carry no beer belly around to digust you angry American women. I go to Costa Rica as often as I can where the women are more beautiful and appreciative of fit, wise, attractive and successful American men, who wonder what in the hell has happened to make women in our country so bitter and intolerant of us. My advise to you never "whinning bimbos" who want to wear your pregnant bellies and bachaches as a "badge of courage. 1) Adopt 2) Go to sperm bank so you don't have to deal with us slovenly and constantly complaining male pigs. Choose your own poison and enjoy the results.

Alan 12-16-2007 @ 11:27AM

Readers are obviously smarter, or at least older, than the AOL journalists. Pain is only real for one person. The rest of the world is imagining things :)