List of women who died in childbirth

Famous women

Austria

*Maria Anna of Austria, Archduchess of Austria (1718-1744)
*Maria Leopoldina, Archduchess of Austria (1797-1826), mother of Maria II of Portugal and Emperor Pedro II of Brazil

Bohemia

*Guta von Habsburg (1271-97), Queen of Bohemia

Egypt

*Meketaten (13th century BC), daughter of Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti.

France

*Alix of Thouars (1221), Duchess of Brittany
*Émilie du Châtelet (1749), mathematician, physicist, and author.
*Gabrielle d'Estrées (1559), mistress of the French King, died following eclampsia

Germany

*Anne of Świdnica (1362), third wife of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
*Paula Modersohn-Becker (1907), artist

India

*Mumtaz Mahal (1631), wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Her memorial is the Taj Mahal
*Smita Patil (1986), an Indian actress and wife of Raj Babbar

Israel

*The Biblical Rachel, died giving birth to Benjamin (Genesis 35:16-20)

Italy

*Julia (54 BC), daughter of Julius Caesar
*Poppaea Sabina (65), wife of Nero
* Galla (d. 394), wife of Theodosius I.
*Marietta Robusti (1590), 16th century artist and daughter of the artist Jacopo Tintoretto
*Gianna Beretta Molla (1962), pediatrician who was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2004.

Montenegro

* Princess Zorka of Montenegro (1890), mother of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia

Norway

* Margaret of Scotland (Queen of Norway) (1283) after giving birth to Margaret, Maid of Norway

Persia

*Stateira I (332 BCE) Queen of Persia and wife of Darius III, died in captivity.

Poland

*Jadwiga of Poland (1399), monarch of Poland

Portugal

*Queen Maria II of Portugal (1819-1853)
*Isabella of Asturias (1470-1498), married Afonso of Portugal and Manuel I of Portugal

Russia

*Anna Petrovna of Russia, (1728) - daughter of Catherine I of Russia and mother of Peter III of Russia
*Anna Leopoldovna, (1746), regent of Russia and mother of Ivan VI of Russia
*Alexandra Georgievna of Greece and Denmark, (1891) wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia

pain

*Blanca de Navarra (d. 1156), wife of the future King Sancho III of Castile

UK

*Eleanor de Montfort (1282), the princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon
*Isabella of Mar (1296), first wife of Robert I of Scotland, after delivering Marjorie Bruce, who also died in childbirth
*Marjorie Bruce (1316), after delivering the future Robert II of Scotland
*Mary de Bohun (1394), first wife of Henry IV of England and mother of Henry V
*Elizabeth of York (1503), queen of Henry VII of England and mother of Henry VIII
*Jane Seymour (1537), third wife of Henry VIII of England and mother of Edward VI
*Catherine Parr (1548), sixth Wife Henry VIII of England
*Mary Wollstonecraft (1797), author of "Vindication of the Rights of Women" and mother of Mary Shelley
*Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales (1796-1817), only legitimate child of the future King George IV of the United Kingdom. The obstetrician later committed suicide.
*Isabella Beeton (1865), author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management

US

*Kalanipauahi (about 1804-1826), Hawaiian queen consort/princesss and a member of the House of Kamehameha
*Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt (1861-1884), first wife of Theodore Roosevelt
*Cecilia Mettler (1909-1943), medical historian
*Nadine Shamir (1972-2004), singer/songwriter

Mothers of famous people

* Mother of Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley (Died giving birth to her last child when her son Leon Czolgosz was twelve years old.)
* Frederica of Hesse-Darmstadt, mother of Queen Louise of Prussia. (Died giving birth to her last child when Louise was six years old.)
* Julia Neale Jackson, mother of Stonewall Jackson, Confederate general. (Died giving birth to Jackson's half-brother William when Stonewall was seven years old.)
* Murial, mother of Roy Harper, musician.
* Mary Wollstonecraft, mother of Mary Shelley, writer.
* Jaqueline Robespierre, mother of Maximilien Robespierre. (Died giving birth to her fifth child, who also died.)

Wives of famous people

* Maria Manuela of Portugal (1545), wife of future Philip II of Spain
* Mary Powell (1652), first wife of writer John Milton
* Katherine Woodcock (1658), second wife of writer John Milton
* Johanna Osthoff (1809), first wife of the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss
* Elinor Junkin (1854), first wife of Civil war Confederate general Stonewall Jackson.
* Nettie Dorsey (1932), first wife of Gospel musician Thomas A. Dorsey.
* Virginia Patton (1930), wife of blues musician Robert Johnson.

Maternal death in fiction

Literature

* In Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace", Liza Bolkonskaya, wife of Prince Andrei dies giving birth to a son called Nikolai.
* Catherine Barkley, the nurse and principal supporting character in Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms", dies in childbirth. Shortly after her son was stillborn, it had to leaving Henry to return to their hotel in the rain.
* In Charles Dickens' novel "Oliver Twist" the title character's mother, Agnes, dies giving birth to him.
* Another Dickens novel "A Christmas Carol", Scrooge's younger sister Fan dies in childbirth giving birth to his nephew Fred.
*In Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town", Emily Webb dies in childbirth.
* In the "Harry Potter" saga, Merope Gaunt-Riddle, the mother of the series' chief antagonist, Lord Voldemort, dies after giving birth to him, living just long enough to name him Tom Marvolo Riddle.
* In Gabriel García Márquez's novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude", Amaranta Ursula Buendía dies while giving birth to Aureliano, the child she has with her nephew Aureliano Babilonia.
* In Barry Hughart's novel "The Bridge of Birds", Li Kao's mother dies immediately after giving birth to him. She lives only long enough to ask for Kaoliang wine, which is misinterpreted by those in attendance as naming the child Li Kao.
* In Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita", it is mentioned in the foreword that the title character dies giving birth to a stillborn daughter.
* In the novel "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini the mother of the protagonist Amir dies during his birth.
* In R.A. Salvatore's novel "The Highwayman", Sen Wi, realizing that her newborn son will die, uses a healing art to save him at the cost of her own life.
*In the soap opera spin-off , HIV-positive pregnant woman Stacey Sloan dies after complications of placental abruption.
*In the Grimm Brothers' "Snow White", Snow White's mother died in childbirth. Soon afterwards, the new king took a new wife (debatable) who was beautiful, but very vain, and who possessed supernatural powers of all times.
*In Patricia MacLachlan's "Sarah, Plain and Tall", Anna's mother died in childbirth a day after Caleb's birth. So on, the two kids and their father write a note to an ad in the newspaper for a mail-order bride.
*In the final book of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events book series, the character Kit Snicket dies after giving birth to her daughter (the father of whom is never revealed).
* In Marion Zimmer Bradley's Lady of Avalon, Viviane's mother, Ana, dies while giving birth to her fifth child, Morgause, who's fed and raised by her older sister.
* In the 1891 play Spring Awakening by Franz Wedekind and the same-named contemorary musical Wendla dies from a botched abortion.

Movies

* In the 1959 Bengali movie Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) Apu's wife Aparna dies during childbirth .
* In the motion picture "The Mask of Zorro", the antagonist Don Rafael Montero, enemy of Don Diego de la Vega, lied that Esperanza de la Vega died in childbirth, but Esperanza de la Vega was actually gunned down instead. Then Montero raised her daughter Elena.
* In the motion picture "Contact", a woman died giving birth to the film's protagonist Eleanor Ann "Ellie" Arroway, portrayed by actress Jodie Foster. Arroway's father died when she was nine years old.
* In "", Padmé Amidala dies after the birth of her twins Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa on Polis Massa, not because of poor health, but because of the complete loss of will to live and a broken heart. Her husband Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side of the Force and became Darth Vader.
* In "Mi Familia/My Familia", the wife of the character played by Jimmy Smits dies while giving birth to their son.
* In the Canadian movie "The Red Violin", Anna Bussotti dies after a stillbirth in the opening act, leading to the creation of the Red Violin as a tribute.
* In the motion picture "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein", Victor Frankenstein's mother dies giving birth to his little brother, William. She dies of illness in the original novel.
* In the 2004 film "Jersey Girl", Gertrude Steiney, the character of actress Jennifer Lopez, dies during childbirth.
* In the 1988 film "The Seventh Sign", Demi Moore's character dies as a result of giving birth to her child. Actually, she offers her soul because "she finds out that the prophecies lead up to the birth of her child who may not survive because there will be no more souls left for the newborns unless someone offers their own."
* In the 2002 film "Whale Rider", the main character's mother and twin brother die while she lives.
* In the film adaptation of "Interview With the Vampire", Louis' wife dies in childbirth.

Others

* In the Australian television series "Neighbours", the mother of characters Paul, Scott, Julie and Lucy Robinson died giving birth to youngest child, Lucy.
* Square Enix's "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest" video game series mentioned maternal death. Raine of "Final Fantasy VIII" died giving birth to the game's protagonist Squall Leonhart. Martha, the mother of the "Dragon Quest V" hero, was rumored to have died in childbirth.
* In SNK's "King of Fighters" series, the Yagami bloodline is cursed with maternal death. The mothers of the Yagami clan heirs are cursed to die giving birth to the clan heirs.
* In an episode of "House", a woman 26 weeks pregnant dies after doctors perform an emergency c-section.
* In the television series "Lost", the character Ben Linus's mother died while giving birth to him and his father blames him for it.
* In the series one "ER" episode "Loves Labours Lost", Mark Greene oversees a patient who dies in childbirth due to Pre-Eclampsia. Mark is subsequently sued for negligence by her partner.
* In "Kevin and Kell", Wanda Woolstone, dies giving birth to Corrie Dewclaw. Her death causes the otherwise very skilled Ralph Dewclaw, Corrie's father, to lose the will to hunt, and causes him to mistakenly believe that predator-prey relationships inevitably end tragically.
* In "Jade Empire", Sky's wife dies giving birth to their daughter, Pinmei, years before he meets the player.

ee also

*Maternal mortality