I mean, I've never known anyone who died giving birth, but it's not so much the commonality as it is the formulaic telling of it that gets me, both in fic and elsewhere.
Yeah. I mean, crack a history book, guys. Childbirth tragedies aren't cookie-cutter. Sure, you had prolonged labors that resulted in a healthy baby and a dying mother, but you also had births and deliveries that went perfectly until infection or hemorrhage set in (sometimes days later), and since infant mortality outpaces maternal mortality, statistically you're a lot more likely to end up with a dead baby as well, not a perfect little Lilina or Roy or RenaisTwins. Or you had cases like the birth of Napoleon I's son wherein the kid was given up for dead to save the mother and both ended up surviving.
And in any event, you also had husbands left in a state of complete shock, not in any state for bittersweet baby snuggles. Just because mothers and babies died more often doesn't mean that their families were resigned to the fact or totes OK with the whole thing.
Also unsurprising mention that #2 sounds A+.
It's a complete bitch to write. Ephraim is hard. Very hard. AU!Ephraim is easier than the real thing for some reason.
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Date: 2012-11-14 08:37 pm (UTC)Yeah. I mean, crack a history book, guys. Childbirth tragedies aren't cookie-cutter. Sure, you had prolonged labors that resulted in a healthy baby and a dying mother, but you also had births and deliveries that went perfectly until infection or hemorrhage set in (sometimes days later), and since infant mortality outpaces maternal mortality, statistically you're a lot more likely to end up with a dead baby as well, not a perfect little Lilina or Roy or RenaisTwins. Or you had cases like the birth of Napoleon I's son wherein the kid was given up for dead to save the mother and both ended up surviving.
And in any event, you also had husbands left in a state of complete shock, not in any state for bittersweet baby snuggles. Just because mothers and babies died more often doesn't mean that their families were resigned to the fact or totes OK with the whole thing.
Also unsurprising mention that #2 sounds A+.
It's a complete bitch to write. Ephraim is hard. Very hard. AU!Ephraim is easier than the real thing for some reason.