Surprising theory women give birth lying on their backs is pretty infuriating
Niamh Spence
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If you've ever watched a scene on TV where a woman gives birth, then the likelihood is that she did it on her back whilst screaming and making it very dramatic.
We're not saying that birth isn't painful, but giving birth whilst lying on your back could make it even more so as it restricts movement.
And whilst it seems like everything on TV and what we hear of involves being horizontal to give birth, it turns out that actually for many years women used to give birth stood up or sat in 'birthing chairs' instead.
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It was only a thing to be lay down horizontally from the 1700s and it was actually down to one man that the way women give birth changed.
The last French King, Louis XVI, was said to be obsessed with the science behind birth and how women's bodies prepared for and managed to bring a child into the world.
According to the American Journal of Public Health by Lauren Dundes, the King was so keen to understand and study it further that he insisted that his wives and mistresses gave birth whilst lying down so he could see it better.
He got plenty of viewings too as he was father to 22 children during his 76 year lifetime, and unknowingly he started the trend for all women to give birth on their backs.
Once the public heard that the French nobles were giving birth on their backs, they copied and that position then became the common 'normal' for giving birth around the world.
Yet actually it can be more painful to lie on your back in labour, and this is due to the body restricting movement and the baby having to push upwards on the birth canal and against gravity.
If watching TV programmes like 'One Born Every Minute' has taught us anything it's that giving birth can happen in many positions and some seem better than others.
British academic and author Hannah Fry has also commented on the historic reason behind giving birth on your back, and she took to Instagram to clarify why it happens.
The post was inundated from people adding that they found other positions much more comfortable when they went through labour.
One person wrote: "After 34 hours of labor, and when the doctor left the room, the nurse told me to get on my hands and knees. I was able to give birth shortly there after."
A second shared: "My ex-wife was an absolute goddess when she gave birth on all fours to our daughter. The midwife tried to dominate the situation by telling she did not like birthing like that. My wife bellowed, ‘It’s time n my birth plan!’ and carried on - admirably fantastic!"
Another person also apologised as they added: "As a man, and son of an obstetrician, I am so embarrassed that men have made so many fundamentally wrong decisions for women."
However, Snopes has explained that, while there is some truth to the story, it’s not really th full picture – labelling the rumour as ‘mostly false’.
“Louis is believed to have enjoyed watching women give birth and was likely present in the room when his wife gave birth,” the site said.
“However, it was the famed 17th-century French doctor François Mariceau who is generally credited with the practice of having women lie flat on their backs during birth.”
As for the specific part that’s false, Snopes added: “Louis did not require that women give birth lying flat on their back, nor did he inspire the practice.”