![\"The](\"https:\/\/wp-assets.futurism.com\/2019\/01\/give-birth-space-spacelife-origin-300x158.jpg\")
<\/div>Mother\/Astronaut<\/h2>
Childbirth is stressful enough for many women. But for one brave mother-to-be, it’ll be even more so — because she’ll be giving birth in space.<\/p>
At least, that’s startup SpaceLife Origin’s plan.<\/p>
In October, the Netherlands-based company announced<\/a> its Missions Program 2020-2024, a program culminating with the live birth of a human baby aboard a spacecraft positioned 250 miles above Earth — and according to one of the company’s execs, the success of the mission could affect our plans for off-world colonization.<\/p> On Wednesday, The Atlantic<\/em> published a story<\/a> about SpaceLife Origin. In it, Egbert Edelbroek, the company’s Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, argues that humanity needs to figure out off-Earth reproduction if it ever hopes to colonize other worlds.<\/p> “Human settlements outside of Earth would be pretty pointless without learning how to reproduce in space,” Edelbroek told the magazine.<\/p> Over the next five years, the company will complete a series of missions all designed to fill this knowledge gap and prepare humanity for off-world reproduction. According to a press release<\/a>, these include a plan to send human reproduction cells to space as “insurance<\/a>” in case of a catastrophe on Earth and the development of a “Space-Embryo-Incubator” capable of fertilizing and developing embryos in space.<\/p> The final step in the plan is sending a pregnant volunteer and a team of medical professionals into space on a 24- to 36-hour-long mission during which she’ll give birth.<\/p> As pointed out in the Atlantic<\/em> piece, this plan sounds like a logistical nightmare — imagine doctors trying to administer an epidural in zero-gravity while blobs of bodily fluids float around the capsule. SpaceLife Origin is also likely to hit a host of regulatory hurdles and face serious ethical backlash by those concerned for the safety of the mother and child.<\/p> Still, it’s hard to argue Edelbroek’s point that eventually we are going to need to figure out the logistics of giving birth in space<\/a> if we want to become an interplanetary species — and the process could start as soon 2024 with a single volunteer.<\/p> READ MORE:<\/strong> Imagine Giving Birth in Space<\/a> [The Atlantic<\/em>]<\/p> More on off-world colonization: Our Bodies Aren’t Built to Have Babies on Mars – so Let’s Alter Our DNA<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p> The post This Startup Wants to Send a Pregnant Woman to Space to Give Birth<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> Read more: Mother\/Astronaut Childbirth is stressful enough for many women. But for one brave mother-to-be, it\u2019ll be even more so \u2014 because she\u2019ll be giving birth in space. Continue reading Space Baby<\/h2>
Labor Pains<\/h2>
This Startup Wants to Send a Pregnant Woman to Space to Give Birth<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"