Childbirth and bobsledding

I watched a lot of hours of the winter olympics last month. And, surprise, surprise, I've been thinking a lot about childbirth. Childbirth and bobsledding – did you know the two have a lot in common?

The following paragraph really sums up the relationship between the two:

From Birth Day by Dr. Mark Sloan

Human childbirth is like an Olympic bobsled run. There are two participants with well-defined roles: a mother who does the pushing and a baby who steers the course.


There is a well-marked start and finish, and in between there are banked turns and the real possibility of disaster.


Down at the finish line, there's a throng of cheering supporters, some ready to assist when things get tricky, others simply milling around with cameras and champagne.

Childbirth isn't exactly like a bobsled run, of course. There are no helmets or spandex racing suits, for one thing, and it's usually not snowing on the participants.


Childbirth is also a bit slower. A bobsled in mid race regularly reaches 70 miles per hour or more. A baby at its zippiest has a top speed of roughly 0.00000025 mph.

Photos from Flickr - click on each photo for a larger view and credit information.

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At a minimum, I expect all my hospital visitors to be as spirited and excited as mister belly paint!

We'll be full term at the end of this week and I'm getting the "whenever you're ready, I'm ready" feeling.

I'll try to keep this blog updated with the inevitable "we're heading to the hospital" announcement.