Pregnancy, Birth and Offspring Caring Is Not The Same For All Mammals

Pregnancy is a biological process that occurs in all female mammals after the union of an egg from a female with a sperm from the male ofthe species. The process of pregnancy does not occur in any other animal group be sides those belonging to the mammalian group. We all know the gestation period for the human female is about 36 weeks (9 months), give or take a few weeks. We also know that the human female is capable of having up to 15 fetuses at a time by artificial insemination and upto 9 naturally, but in all cases the full set did not survive to live birth. There has been one documented case of 12 fetuses being conceived naturally,but all twelve did not survive to live birth. The gestation period during human pregnancy is generally divided into three periods or trimesters equal to approximately three months each. We all know these facts about human pregnancy; now lets dwell on some interesting facts and comparisons to pregnancy and birth of other mammals.

Gestation period generally varies from one animal to another because of the variation in the weight or size of the female. If the women out there think 9 months is long enough you are going to pity some of the other animals in the mammalian family. The gestation period for an Asian elephant is a whopping 645 days or about 22 months. Try to imagine carrying a baby around that long for almost two years. Our families would definitely be a lot smaller and it would definitely be one child per family. The world population would be a lot smaller also.

However, there is always an exception to some rules when it come to size and weight. Whales are the largest animals on earth and only have a gestation period two months longer than ours. Cats and dogs have a gestation period of about 60 days since they are smaller and some rodents such as mice and squirrels last about 20 days. Wow less than a month. No wonder it is very difficult to get rid of these guys; there are still many more somewhere in hiding.

The most common number of live births in human obviously isone child per birth with having twins being the next most common births. Thisoccurs in 1 in 80 births for mostly dizgotic or fraternal twins (from twoseparate eggs) while triplets occur once in about 8,000 births and higher birthnumbers occur once in about 700,000 births. The nine-banded armadillo is theonly mammal that routinely produces double twins or four identical twins.

Multiplebirths generally occur mostly in small mammals. Dogs, cats, pigs are smallmammals that generally have anywhere from 5 to 10 in a litter. Larger mammalssuch horses, cows, elephants, and deers generally have only one offspring at a time.Marine mammals such as dolphins and whales only have one offspring due to theirenvironment. It would be rather difficult for any marine mammal to care formore than one offspring in an aquatic environment.

Birthing in humans is a painful experience since the head of the newborn is relatively large with respect to the rest of it body. It is performed in two ways, vaginally or by c-section in a reclined position in a comfortable environment. Typically, a woman is given a local anesthetic to reduce the pain of delivery. Some women endure the pain without anesthetic and decide to perform their delivery 100% naturally. Many women in third world countries give birth this way routinely because there are no medical facilities available.

However, other mammals do not have the same luxury that humans have during birthing. They also experience some pains, especially if a newborn with four long legs is coming out in the wrong way. Many large four-legged mammals generally go through the birthing process standing. Their newborns are required to drop out and fall to the ground. The giraffe in particular must allow it newborn to fall three to four feet to the ground during birthing. This is a pretty rough way to come into the world for these newborns. In the wild the newborn and the mother are very venerable to predators during this critical moment. Unfortunately some newborns do not survive the first few minutes to an hour after birth. Some smaller mammals such as cats, dogs, and pigs will lay on their side to give birth in some cases. Sometimes, some animals may need human intervention to move the process forward or in case there is a problem.

Breastfeeding is a critical stage in the process of caring for newborns. Mammals are the only animals in the world capable of feeding their newborns this way. They belong to the class, Mammalia, whose females are characterized by the possession of mammary glands. These are modified sweat glands. Human females generally have two sets of glands, that we in most cases, called breast and by various other names. On very rare occasions they can have more than two like some of the lower mammals usually have. This rare condition is called polymastia. Lower mammals can have up to 4 or 5 pairs of these to feed their litter.

 The pituitary gland just moments before the birthing process begins releases a chemical called oxytocin that increases the contraction of the uterus during labor and stimulates the ejection of milk into the ducts of the breast. The effect of the oxytocin causes the milk to flow into the newborn’s mouth. The newborns do not suck milk from the breast, as some of us believe they are doing. They do not know how to suck yet.

 These glands play a crucial role in the early stage of the newborn’s life. The milk from the mother is loaded with nutrients and other ingredients to enhance the newborn immunity as quickly as possible to improve the newborn’s change of survival.

The platypus is the one who does all these things differently. The platypus is one of five mammals that lay eggs. They lay one to three eggs and their gestation period is about 28 days. When the young ones need milk they suck on patches instead of nipples like the rest of female mammals possess. Again the female is the sole caretaker here, she has to take care of the newborns for four months and then they are on their own.

Mammals are pretty much the only animals in the world that knowingly take care of their offspring until maturity. The other animals in the world take of their offspring because they are driven by instinct. We spend the longest time, approximately 18 to 21 years of our life, taking care of a single child to maturity. Fortunately, in most cases both parents perform the caring of our offspring. This type of caring happens with other mammals, mostly among the primates, up to a limited extent. The female in other groups takes sole responsibility for raising the family while the male is off somewhere starting another family.

 Many mammals such as dogs and cats spend about a few months taking care of their offspring. Chimpanzees and gorillas spend about two to three years caring for their offspring. Mice and other rodents have the shortest time among mammals to take care of their offspring. They spend only a few weeks caring for their offspring.  They are up and running ready to start their own family almost right away. You can’t get any faster than that.

Next time when you are in zoo among some of the other mammals, think about what these animals had to go through to perpetuate their kind. They have to go through the same thing we have to go through but under entirely different circumstances because of their size and their environment.

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