Answer:
A). Than.
Explanation:
As per the question, option A best fits the underlined word both structurally and grammatically(use of than as conjunction) as it accomplishes the comparison as well as meaning of the sentence. The other options are incorrect as they either lack parallelism(in options C and D) or present an incorrect comparison(options B and E compares the babies instead of the women). Thus, option A most appropriately proposes the intended meaning and comparison effectively.
