When news of the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy broke on Monday, a gasp of excitement went round the world. The hashtag #royalbaby took over Twitter, internet searches for “Kate Middleton pregnant” went up by 18,305% and Kate and William’s official website crashed. Congratulations flooded in from all corners, while newspapers took to speculating about everything from the baby’s name to Kate’s maternity wardrobe. It’s a fetus frenzy that is unlikely to abate for the next six months. But while the fascination with the Duchess’ pregnancy is global in scale, even everyday mothers are familiar with the hullabaloo that comes with expecting a child. Strangers approach in the supermarket to lay a hand on your stomach and ask “When are you due?” Friends and grandparents-to-be spend hours discussing cribs and baby showers. Neighbors offer cooking help if you’re lucky and unsolicited advice if you’re not. MORE: Why a Pregnant Kate Middleton Is In the Hospital All of this raises the question: why is an impending birth so captivating? After all, it’s not exactly a rare occurrence — 252 babies are born around the world every minute. The answer, says Meredith Small, professor of anthropology at Cornell University and author of “Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent,” is embedded in our evolutionary past. “You know that saying, ‘It takes a village’? It’s actually really true,” she says. “Human infants are so dependent, they can’t sit up, they can’t eat on their own. How could that happen if there wasn’t at least one person, but usually more people, who are ready to do that kind of stuff?” The rest is natural selection 101: being ready to do that “kind of stuff” improves the replication rate of an individual’s genes (more of their babies will survive and reproduce), meaning caring about babies is a trait that has become predominant. “Emotionally, psychologically, we are evolutionarily designed to respond to the look and feel of babies, and hearing about them,” says Small. “It’s so ingrained in our genes that it’s![]()
