Natural Birth in the Animal World – April finally gives birth
April’s baby needs a chiropractor…
So April the Giraffe finally had her baby, the baby giraffe was born on Saturday morning, April 15th. For any of you who may have watched the birth, either live or on a video replay, you will see the giraffe being birthed and falling to the ground, landing on the side of her head. No father, partner, midwife or OB there to catch the baby. Instead, he goes plopping to the ground head first and lays there for a short time prior to moving. That’s common in the animal world (just do a UTube search for a horse giving birth, you’ll see something similar)…..but it just seems like a long way to fall.
The chiropractor in me immediately says “ouch, that poor neck!” And the animal chiropractor in me wants to be able to check the newborn giraffe, see if he needs an adjustment. I sort of joked the past few months that the momma giraffe April needed a chiropractor, after all they announced she was ready to give birth “any moment” about 6 weeks ago. Knowing how much adjusting a pregnant woman can help with optimal fetal positioning and with labor, I wondered if it would help a giraffe as well. I mean why not? This giraffe was not induced, there was no epidural, no monitoring, just birth, naturally.
It is very cute to see the giraffe up and walking in less than two hours after birth, pretty amazing actually. And the baby wants to start nursing…another instinctual move. No one is telling these giraffes anything, they just do what nature guides them to. I sure wish our society was the same…more natural birth, breastfeeding, and mom & baby bonding time.
It would be great to know if a chiropractor ever checks any of these animals. I think they should, they should be offered the opportunity. Dogs & horses get checked and adjusted regularly, why not a giraffe?
