Modern women give birth lying down because King Louis XIV was a creeper
by Sara McGinnis posted in Parenting
Thanks to having 22 children with his wives (and mistresses), King Louis XIV developed a fascination with birth that has lasting influence today.
Up until he entered the scene in the late 1600s women gave birth in most cultures around the world kneeling, squatting, sitting or standing. A bas-relief at the Temple of Esneh in Egypt even depicts Cleopatra giving birth on her knees (surrounded by five female attendants) way back in the BC era.
But although kneeling and squatting worked best for women for all of human history up until Louis' time, those positions lacked one thing he couldn't deal with -- a view.
"Some scholars claim that the change in birthing position was a perverted caprice of King Louis XIV," Professor Dundes wrote in the American Journal of Public Health, "Since Louis XIV reportedly enjoyed watching women giving birth, he became frustrated by the obscured view of birth when it occurred on birthing stool." He reportedly insisted a "birthing table" be designed, then watched while his mistress gave birth to one of his illegitimate children.
To be fair, it wasn't just Louis who came up with the idea.
The lithotomy position so many of us have found ourselves in (reclined on a bed, spread eagle, often with feet in stirrups) was promoted by Francois Maurice in his 1668 book The Diseases of Women with Child and in Child-Bed. That title is a clear indication of his line of thinking, as he went on ...
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