Declining birth rates across the world have led to alarming news headlines warning of an upcoming demographic crisis. Elon Musk has even stated that “a collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far”. Increased female access to education and to the labor market have contributed to the drop in fertility, but policies such as better parental leave or free childcare have failed to materially boost birth rates. The later timing of family formation and the general cost of raising children are often cited as reasons for fertility decisions. However, the discussion rarely focuses on the tremendous impact of pregnancy on a women’s body. Israeli researchers in Molecular Cell Biology have analyzed over 70 physiological markers across over 300,000 pregnancies to assess changes happening before and after delivery. They found that while close to half of test results stabilize in the first week after delivery, over 40% of results take more than 10 weeks to settle (up to 56 weeks). Indeed, measures of liver function and cholesterol took around six months to settle, whereas an indicator of bone and liver health settled after a year. These results show that societal belief that women’s bodies bounce back quickly after childbirth is somewhat unrealistic.
Source: Nature, March 2025.