Part of it is evolution - the human brain is bigger as a proportion of the body weight than in other mammals, and bigger skull means pain on delivery.
However part of it may be down to how unfit modern mothers are. A friend of mine read somewhere that if you walked a lot, the birth was easier, so she was walking miles every day right up to delivery - and the delivery was quick, probably down to very strong pelvic muscles. (I haven't got any children - we are trying for some, but with no luck so far - but yes, sometimes you worry about how much it might hurt and avidly collect all info about how to avoid the pain!)
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