Perhaps one of the other greatest “inventions” for childbirth was the invention of anesthesia. It was in 1853 that Queen Victoria of England gave birth to her 7th baby. Her doctor gave her chloroform to ease the pain. This was a great success and the Queen quickly spread the ‘word’ about how wonderful it was to have relief from the pain!

So it is really only in the last 150 years that pain relief has been available to women. Before that time there was no anesthesia available and childbirth pains were greatly feared by women. Young girls were encouraged to witness and hear women birth their babies so that they could “mentally prepare” for their turn to give birth to their own baby!