According to the New York Times, researchers from Harvard and the University of Texas, women have evolved a stronger, more flexible spine in order to accommodate pregnancy. Katherine K. Whitcome, a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard and the lead author of the paper, saysthe lumbar, or lower back, curve in women extends across three vertebrae, as opposed to just two in men. And the connecting points between vertebrae are relatively larger in women, and shaped differently in ways that make the stack more stable and less prone to the bones shifting out of alignment or breaking. Without this adaptation, pregnancy would be alot more painful. Even more interesting, this particular adaptation is no present in chimps so it must have something to do with walking upright.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/science/12cnd-pregnant.html?em&ex=1197781200&en=9ee163509360e953&ei=5087
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