Barbara Fischer (Group Leader for Evolutionary Biology at the KLI) was interviewed for the podcast Hörgang: Der Medizin-Podcast von Springer Wien, for an episode entitled “Evolutionärer Pfusch? Die enge Passform bei der menschlichen Geburt” [transl. as “An evolutionary blunder? The tight fit during human childbirth”].

Springer Medicine Vienna offers a podcast that aims to explore medical topics thoroughly yet engagingly. It features insights from experts in science and practice, as well as editorial staff, columnists, and reporters from the journal “Ärztewoche”.

In this podcast, Barbara explores the challenge of human birth, focusing on the relationship between newborn head size and the maternal pelvis. Evolution has led to adaptations, but the process is still a compromise rather than a perfect fit. She discusses the flexibility of the newborn’s skull and the maternal pelvis, the advantages of larger heads, the constraints of pelvic dimensions on movement, and how modern medicine, particularly cesarean sections, affects the relationship between skull size and pelvic shape.

Listen to the podcast (in German) on:  https://springermedizin-hoergang.podigee.io/316-evolutionaerer-pfusch