Eye-Opening Details About What Giving Birth Was Like For Royal Mothers

The birth of a royal was not just any old day - it was a political event that could have deep implications for an entire nation. It was an event that could signal the future success or failure of a monarchy, so people were pretty concerned with its outcome. As a result, it was not regarded as a private affair, but rather as a moment of significant public concern. Would it be a boy? A future king? As a future ruler, the child belonged more to the people than to the queen herself. And so she gave birth in front of many spectators, all of whom watched the process carefully to confirm the sex and health of the baby and avoid any foul play.

When Marie Antoinette of France gave birth in 1778, there were 200 people in her bedchamber to witness the event. In fact, the exact moment of a royal birth was so important, the obstetrician would yell out "The Queen is going to give birth!" - at which point hundreds of courtesans would pour into the darkened room. The rush of people was so extreme, the king had ordered the enormous tapestries around her bed be secured with cords so they wouldn't accidentally be pulled down by the frenzied crowd. The scene was so overpowering, it is said Marie Antoinette fainted from the heat while onlookers scrambled up on furniture to get a better look at the birth of a monarch.

About a month before the queen was due to give birth, she withdrew from life at court and was moved to a special chamber where she would remain until her big day. 

Taking to one's bed before giving birth was not a particularly pleasant experience for a royal mother. Despite the luxury of her apartments, the rules for her "lying-in" strictly dictated all windows were to be shut and covered with tapestries, allowing almost no fresh air to enter the room. Light was also considered dangerous, as it might hurt the eyes of the queen. The bedchamber would be hung all about with calming tapestries depicting serene religious scenes and landscapes - all images intended to ease the mother rather than upset her and to protect the unborn child. It was believed wall hangings showing people or animals could trigger strange visions in the mother-to-be and possibly lead to deformities in the child.

The idea was to re-create the safety, darkness, and peace of the womb itself, so the queen could birth a monarch in ideal comfort. Regardless of the season, a roaring fire would be lit, and the room would be attended by women who spoke only in a whisper. Fresh rushes and herbs would cover the floor and be replaced daily to keep the room smelling clean. If the queen became overwhelmed by the smoke and darkness, some candles might be lit around her stately bed to give her a bit of light. 

Because the room itself symbolized a womb, barriers that kept it closed were often undone, especially if labor proved difficult. Cupboards would be opened, hairpins removed, knots untied - anything to invite the flow of energy outward. Women would often chant around the queen, calming her with their voices and prayers to St. Margaret, who was supposedly issued spat from the mouth of a dragon.

Although giving birth today is seen as a celebratory time of family bliss, this was not always the case. Throughout history, Christians saw the pain of childbirth as necessary because the Bible states God told women, "In pain you will give birth to children." In devout Christian countries, be they Catholic or Protestant, the suffering of labor and delivery were seen as an innate part of a woman's experience. The agony she would suffer was closely associated with the fall of Eve in the Garden of Eden and symbolized the magnitude of her original sin. This was the primary reason painkillers were often frowned upon, even for royals. 

As a result, queens often clutched holy relics and amulets during labor, even tucking little prayer rolls into the folds of their nightclothes. The church approved of such practices because they asked for God's protection and would likely help a mother find success during her darkest hours. 

Royal women were used to a certain standard of living, and the pain of childbirth was not a welcome change from their usual comforts. Throughout history, giving birth was assumed to be a terribly painful process and one that could not be avoided, but not all queens accepted this fate.

Born in the early 1800s, Queen Victoria (who gave birth to nine children) began a campaign to make pain relief for royal mothers available and acceptable. For the birth of her eighth son, Prince Leopold, she found a doctor who would use chloroform to give her a reprieve from the mind-blowing pain. "'Oh, that blessed chloroform,' she wrote afterwards, 'soothing and delightful beyond measure.'" 

But asking for pain relief from childbirth was no simple task, as it sometimes flew in the face of the moral belief that women deserved the pain of childbirth - it was simply their lot in life. But after the protestations of Queen Victoria, the outlook began to change, and royal women began politely requesting the Anaesthesia de la Reine during labor - otherwise known as ether.

This shift in thinking not only relieved many a royal, but it also opened the floodgates of medical approaches.

Until the middle of the 17th century, royal births were considered a women-only situation overseen by nurses, midwives, ladies-in-waiting, and any other women of court who could assist in some way. These women who helped the queen during her hours of need were known as "God's siblings" and were the protectors and handlers of anything related to the royal birth. Men were absolutely not allowed.

Because there were no heart monitors or medical equipment to evaluate the mother's progress, expertise was based solely on the experience of women who had given birth before. Doctors were rarely called in unless the situation became dire, as midwives did all the heavy lifting. As birthing experts, they had to be both knowledgeable and of good character - a woman who could be trusted with the life of the future monarch. When attending a royal mother, the midwife was required to take an oath not to keep anything from the birth itself, such as the placenta or the umbilical cord, both of which could be used in witchcraft. 

This matriarchal dominance continued until Prince Albert insisted on attending the labor of his wife, Queen Victoria, in the mid-19th century. She was grateful for the family support and wrote, "There could be no kinder, wiser, nor more judicious nurse." By this time, male doctors were allowed into the royal birthing room with strict instructions to only touch their patients and not look at them. 

Medieval beliefs regarding the female reproductive system were nothing short of - well, medieval. Many people, especially men, believed a woman's genitalia were actually male organs turned inside out. The uterus and ovaries (the cognates of the penis and testicles) were inverted in women in order to have children, but they were, essentially, still male organs. This belief allowed men to regard women as subordinate because their organs were stunted somehow and not fully formed - they were an inferior version of their male counterpart. 

Not surprisingly, the beliefs around what created a baby in the first place were shaky. They did not understand that male sperm was what dictated the sex of a child and always placed the blame for an unwanted female heir on the mother. Pre-modern thinkers also believed the gender of an unborn child could be influenced by certain foods or medicinal potions. Experts on the subject of royal bedchambers describe the process of "lying-in" for royal mothers as a way to ensure a male heir. According to these beliefs, the sex of a baby was not determined until the very moment of birth, so it was always possible to influence the divine decision during pregnancy.