Death in Childbirth: History and Representations

Marie-France Morel

doi:10.25365/adv.2024.6.8521

Authors

Marie-France Morel

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25365/adv.2024.6.8521

Keywords:

Pregnancy portraits, childbirth mortality, funerary monuments, 18th century, 19th century

Abstract

Childbirth has long been likened to a battle, with women enduring pain and danger akin to soldiers in combat. This comparison, rooted in ancient times, persisted through the centuries, with women who died in childbirth honored like fallen warriors. Even prominent figures like Thomas Jefferson drew parallels between childbirth and soldiering. Throughout history, childbirth was fraught with peril, accepted as part of divine will or fate. Tragic stories, such as Jane Austen's family losses, underscore the high toll childbirth took, especially in an era with limited contraception and medical understanding. Despite advancements, maternal mortality remained a significant concern well into the 20th century. Demographic records from the 18th and 19th centuries shed light on the prevalence of maternal deaths, highlighting the enduring risks women faced in bringing new life into the world.

References

Bonfield, L., Smith, R. M., & Wrightson, K. (Eds.). (1986). The world we have gained: Histories of population and social structure. Essays presented to Peter Laslett on his seventieth birthday. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Dupâquier, J. (Ed.). (1988). Histoire de la population française. Paris: Seuil.

Filippini, N. M. (2021). Pregnancy, delivery, childbirth: A gender and cultural history from antiquity to the test tube in Europe. London: Routledge.

Gelis, J. (1984). L'arbre et le fruit: La naissance dans l'Occident moderne (XVIe-XIXe siècles). Paris: Fayard.

Gordon, A. (1795). A treatise on the epidemic puerperal fever of Aberdeen.

Hearn, K. (2020). Portraying pregnancy from Holbein to social media. London: The Foundling Museum.

Klairmont Lingo, A. (2017). Midwife to the Queen of France: Diverse observations. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Laget, M. (1982). L’accouchement avant l’âge de la clinique. Paris: Seuil.

Leroy, A. (2002). Histoire de naître: De l’enfantement primitif à l’accouchement médicalisé. Bruxelles: De Boeck.

Mauquest de la Motte, G. (1979/1989). Accoucheur de campagne sous le Roi-Soleil: Le traité d'accouchement de Guillaume Mauquest de la Motte. Toulouse: Privat & Imago.

Millard, R. (2020). Death and the Maenad. I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance, 23(1).

Mormiche, P. (2022). Donner vie au royaume: Grossesses et maternités à la cour, XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle. Paris: CNRS.

Nahl, J. A. (1751). Memorial to Maria Magdalena Langhans. Historisches Museum Basel.

Perkins, W. (1988). Midwives versus doctors: The case of Louise Bourgeois. The Seventeenth Century, 3, 135–157.

Randolph, S. H. (1985). The domestic life of Thomas Jefferson. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.

Smellie, W. (1752). A treatise on the theory and practice of midwifery. London.

Sussman, R. W., Rasmussen, D., & Raven, P. H. (2013). Rethinking primate origins again. American Journal of Primatology, 75(2), 95–106.

Van Wijland, J. (2022). Enluminer les accouchements, éclairer l’enseignement: Les planches de l’Abbrégé de l’art des accouchemens de Madame du Coudray. In M.-F. Morel (Ed.), Accompagner l’accouchement d’hier à aujourd’hui (pp. 119–148). Toulouse: Erès.

World Health Organization. (2023). A woman dies every two minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth. Retrieved from https://www.who.int