Did the baby just die inside the mom and then the mom died as well?
In: 9
First of all back then they didn’t know they were late. Pregnancy and testing wasn’t nearly as well understood as it is now, while imaging (ultrasound) was non-existent.
Complications from a late pregnancy are the result of your baby being too big. The baby may cause a lot of damage on the way out, or may get stuck in the birth canal.
Complications from that for the mother and child could lead to infections, very slow recoveries, permanent damage, or death.
Today we have C-sections and forceps to try to get the child out. Forceps were first used in the 1700s, while C-sections didn’t become *routine* until the 20th century.
One thing a lot of people don’t realize is that the natural infant mortality rate for humans is upwards of 20%. Prior to the 1940s in North America if you have 5 kids there was a very good chance 1 or 2 of them would have died.
Dying in childbirth was also very common, at around 1.5%.
What changed was the development of widespread access to medical care.
My own Grandmothers lost 3/7 and 2/7 children respectively, not including suspected miscarriages.
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