Queens of England who Died in Childbirth

Though giving birth is not exactly a day at the spa, modern medicine has made huge leaps in keeping mothers and babies alive and healthy through the ordeal of childbirth. In Europe in the Middle Ages, about 1 in three women died in their childbearing years, and women routinely wrote their wills upon discovering that they were pregnant. Any number of things could go wrong, including obstructed labor, hemorrhage, and eclampsia. Women were especially susceptible to infection during childbirth in the time before antiseptic and many died of childbed fever days after a delivery. In addition, doctors had a complete lack of understanding of female anatomy and believed that our reproductive organs were simply male organs turned inward. Royal women's wealth and status was no protection against these dangers. In fact, their risks were increased as it was seen as their duty to have as many children as possible. The royal custom was to shun breastfeeding, a natural birth control, and hand the new baby over to a wet nurse so the mother could get back into the marriage bed as quickly as possible. And access to doctors with the latest, often harmful medical interventions didn't help a queen's chances. Here are the stories of seven queens and princesses of England who died tragically as the result of childbirth.