> Look at your examples: in the first, you're talking about the difference between laying down and...not laying down. And how long have people been giving birth

> Look at your examples: in the first, you're talking about the difference between laying down and...not laying down. And how long have people been giving birth in hospitals? In the U.S., we've been giving birth in a hospital under the supervision of a doctor for several generations now. When my grandparents were of childbearing age, there were some pretty horrific practices. Now they are recognized as such, but the turning point occurred during someone's lifetime. Likewise, it doesn't sound like a big deal, but the culture of "laying down" has a significant impact on how we as a culture have babies: - The mother's position is not naturally conducive to popping a baby out. This adds difficulty to pushing. - The mother's position puts all of the baby's weight onto her back, rather than on her legs. This causes more pain, which can lead to further medicinal intervention (e.g. epidurals or IIRC narcotics). - Motion (walking, lunges, etc.) is helpful to get a fetus into the right position (head down, facing mother's back) and to advance its station. This benefit is lost while lying down. - Gravity is not of assistance while lying down. It helps while squatting. Etc. What sounds like such a little thing can end up making a world of difference. And today's ossified doctor who insists that the mother lay on her back is very similar to today's ossified developer who insists on using the Win32 C API for trivial data-entry UIs. Regardless of the rate of change of the field as a whole, ossification and inflexibility is problematic with whatever is changing right now.