How royal voyeurism broke birth biomechanics for 300 years
The Sun King and a position that stuck
Spoiler: it is all the fault of the French King Louis XIV (the Sun King), who ruled at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. This story is one of the most absurd examples of how the whim of one influential man changed medicine for centuries to come.
- Why do we still give birth flat on our backs?
- What does a 17th-century monarch have to do with your birthing position?
How did women give birth «before»?
For centuries, women around the world gave birth exclusively upright — standing, on their knees, on all fours, or sitting on special birthing chairs. It was pure physiology: gravity helped the baby descend, and the pelvic bones stayed mobile, opening to their fullest.
What does Louis XIV have to do with it?
The king had 22 children (from his lawful wife and numerous mistresses). And he had a strange passion — he loved to watch the birth of his children in person. The monarch would sit in the room (sometimes behind a screen) and follow everything closely.
What was the problem? When another mistress sat on a birthing chair or squatted, the midwives' backs and the woman's body position completely blocked the king's view. Louis found this deeply irritating.
The solution: to get the perfect angle, the king demanded that the labouring woman be laid on her back, on a bed. That way he could see the «main action» much better.
How did it spread to the masses?
What began as royal caprice did not stay in the palace.
- The elite wanted «as at court»: noblewomen came to see birthing on a chair as something for the poor and peasant women. Lying in bed, by contrast, was a mark of luxury and nobility. Giving birth flat on the back suddenly became fashionable.
- Doctors strengthened their position: around the same time, male surgeons moved actively into obstetrics, pushing out midwives. The French physician François Mauriceau quickly understood: when a woman lies on her back, it is far more convenient for the doctor to examine, apply forceps, and control the process.
The 20th-century standard
By the 20th century, when birth finally moved into hospitals, the horizontal position (lithotomy position) became a rigid standard.
With its consequences — fighting gravity, a clamped sacrum, and a narrowed pelvic outlet — gentle modern midwifery is still trying to address them today.
In the end, a woman's comfort and the laws of physics were sacrificed first to royal voyeurism, and then to the convenience of medical staff.