Childbirth in the 18th
century was much riskier than today's ultra sterile birthing
facilities. Generally, the whole thing involved only the mother and
some female family and friends. Occasionally, a paid midwife would be
brought in. These midwives had no formal qualifications, just a lot
of experience birthing babies.
Formally-trained male midwives were a
relative rarity. However, they knew what they were doing. They had
the research knowledge, experience, and fancy forceps to get things
done right.
Either way, there were no anaesthetics
or antibiotics. Mothers-to-be just had to grin (or grimace) and bear
it. This was further exacerbated when birthing complications
necessitated a caesarean.
William Cooper, in 1774, was the first
doctor to perform a caesarean in England where the baby lived.
However, the mother did not survive. It should be noted that surgical
pain and a lack of anaesthetics usually results in dead bodies.
In 1793, James Barlow performed the
first c-section where the mother survived. In this case, however, the
baby did not survive.
It wasn't until around 1819 that the
first recorded successful c-section, for both parties, was performed
in the British Empire. In this case, it was performed in South Africa
by an educated female midwife posing as a man.
Childbirth remained difficult and
deadly for decades. Before 1800, about 1.5% of women died in
childbirth. Compare that to about 0.0082% in 2010. (Note: the book
that gives the former figure does not clarify if it was 1.5% of
childbirths resulted in death or 1.5% of all womanly deaths were from
childbirth)
Sources:
"Jane Austen's England" - Roy and Lesley Adkins
"Maternal mortality: how many women die in childbirth in your country?" - Simon Rogers
"Cesarean Section - A Brief History" - Jane Eliot Sewell, Ph.D.
Sources:
"Jane Austen's England" - Roy and Lesley Adkins
"Maternal mortality: how many women die in childbirth in your country?" - Simon Rogers
"Cesarean Section - A Brief History" - Jane Eliot Sewell, Ph.D.
