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PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   4258 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 12, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Someone on Twitter, jokingly creating fake discourse, writes

Mothers who drive cars subject their babies to accelerations of greater intensity, duration, and frequency than any they'd survive in the premodern world. Every time you hit the breaks it's a mild case of shaking baby syndrome and the effects are cumulative

This was made up in jest, but now it has me genuinely wondering. Wouldn’t quick breaking in a car cause a whiplash-like effect similar to shaking a baby? Is it possible that breaking and certain kinds of exercise are invisibly harming the health of babies while in the womb? I can’t see how there would be a difference between the infant whiplashed outside of womb and in womb except maybe a small reduction in force. I glanced at some studies and falls during pregnancy are associated with fetal complications (also, “falls during pregnancy occur in 25–27% of women and can cause serious harm to both the mother and the fetus” is insane and makes me think every girl ought to take part in a balance-based activity).

Wombs are designed to accommodate the mother walking or even running relatively late into pregnancy. Braking in a car won't exert anywhere near the same g-forces.

I'm a father. I'd characterize late pregnancy as hobble around more than running.

I can imagine a womb accommodating walking but I’m not sure about even running, let alone braking. I wonder if pregnant primates are known to run or if they tend to “take things easy”.

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