Her Majesty gave birth to all four of her children at home, whereas the Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan Markle, Princess Eugenie and Sarah Ferguson all opted for hospital births.
The last of Queen Elizabeth II's children, it was the first to be active and conscious, at a time when “twilight sleep” - knocking out the mother and delivering via forceps - was beginning to phase out. All the Queen's children were Royal homebirths.
Sign up to our free breaking news emails. At the time of Princess Elizabeth's birth, no-one thought she would ever be queen. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary arrived on April 21 1926 at her maternal grandparents' home, 17 Bruton Street in London's Mayfair, delivered by caesarean section in the early hours of the morning.
03/6Giving birth at home rather than a hospital
When it comes to royal birth, it was a procedure that only took place at the palace rather than a hospital. Most royal women in British royal history gave birth in their birthing chambers, designed in such a way so as to comfort the mother.
Royal Moms Don't Have Baby Showers
Royal babies go through diapers just as fast as regular babies, after all.
No washing machines
Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla's clothes are not allowed to be cleaned in washing machines—everything is hand washed. When they sent their clothing away to be cleaned, they found that some items of clothing were kept as souvenirs.
"The present Queen, Elizabeth II, was breastfed following her birth in 1926 and chose to continue the practice with her own children. "Historically, most royal mothers did not always believe that breast was best. In fact, in some cases, it was considered at best an inconvenience, at worst, downright harmful."
As for why royals avoided breastfeeding, Licence explained that: "Royal women were often little more than symbolic figures, delivering child after child to secure a dynasty. "This was particularly important in times of high infant and child mortality when the production of second, third and fourth sons was crucial.
The Queen for example, when she gave birth, she gave birth at Buckingham Palace, a home birth, a home cesarean section.
Kate while pregnant with George
Prince George was born in the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in London weighing 8lb 6oz. Kate is said to have delivered him naturally.
Chloroform used to be a widely used anesthetic, dating back to the 1800s. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to give birth to a child under anesthesia. Prince Leopold, the Queen's eighth child, was born in 1853 after her physician Dr.
Valentina Vassilyeva and her husband Feodor Vassilyev are alleged to hold the record for the most children a couple has produced. She gave birth to a total of 69 children – sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets – between 1725 and 1765, a total of 27 births.
Meghan additionally never considered giving birth at Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital (where Kate Middleton gave birth to all three children), opting to give birth at Portland Hospital instead. Meghan had an "uncomplicated" birth and did not deliver by C-section.
Twilight Sleep (Dammerschlaf) was a form of childbirth first used in the early twentieth century in Germany in which drugs caused women in labor to enter a state of sleep prior to giving birth and awake from childbirth with no recollection of the procedure.
General anesthesia involves being put to sleep during delivery. It works quickly, but is usually only an option for emergency C-sections or other urgent issues like excessive bleeding during delivery.
Prince Edward, 58, Earl of Wessex
Out of all of the kids, Prince Edward, now known as the Earl of Wessex, is believed to be the Queen and Prince Philip's favorite child.
Some have attributed the significant rise in CS rates to the increase in older and more obese pregnant women (RANZCOG – AIHW releases data on caesarean section in Australia). Indeed, age ≥35 years and obesity can increase the chances of health issues including high blood pressure, diabetes, and multiple pregnancies.
Australia's caesarean section rate was higher than the OECD average over this time and ranked 27th out of 34 OECD countries in 2017, with a rate of 33.7 per 100 live births (ranked from lowest to highest) (OECD 2019). In 2020, 37% of all women giving birth in Australia had a caesarean section (AIHW 2022).
Which Country Has the Most C-Sections Each Year? The country with the highest rate of C-sections each year is the country of Turkey, according to the most recent statistics.
Life in the Royal Nursery
The reason was, that wetnurses were not to be distracted from their primary duty of providing care—and milk—to the infant prince or princess. Consequently, they probably hired wetnurses to provide that comfort and care for their own babies in their absence.
A social distinction between classes, emphasised by the use of wet nurses, is first recorded in this time period, as royalty primarily used wet nurses to feed their infants. Immediately after a queen gave birth, her infant was given to the wet nurse, who then breastfed the infant.
Why were they once a perceived necessity? In historical terms, a wet-nurse would have been engaged for a royal baby and taken on as part of an official appointment. The wet-nurse might expect a pension or some kind of financial reward, and in some cases, her entire family could benefit.
And it seems the Queen made quite the impression on Kate, who opted to follow in her parenting footsteps by breastfeeding her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
The monarch was reportedly put into a state called 'twilight sleep' during labour, where she was given an anaesthetic and the baby born using forceps. The controversial technique is no longer used today. Indeed, when Her Majesty welcomed her fourth child, Prince Edward, she chose another method of delivery.
Breastfeeding is the best way to feed your grandchild. It helps babies grow and develop, feel safe and secure, and stay healthy.