History Main / MaternalDeathBlameTheChild

Sometimes, when a woman [[DeathByChildbirth dies in childbirth]], the child is seen as the [[SomeoneToRememberHimBy mother's last gift to her surviving family]]. But then there are ''these'' cases, in which the child is blamed for the mother's death.

* In the core FanFic/TriptychContinuum fanfic "Triptych", [[spoiler:Doctor Gentle]] blames his daughter [[spoiler:the nameless pony ''Her'']] because his wife died giving birth to her. [[spoiler: She was also born an Earth Pony. The idea that his wife died giving birth to an Earth Pony who would never be able to use unicorn magic was not something Gentle could accept. So he would dedicate himself to "correct" this, leading to the main plot of the story. For extra cruelty points, part of the grooming process he did was to deliberately refuse to name her and repeatedly drill it into her head that she killed her mother and that she ''has'' to make up for it.]]

* Frexspar in ''Fanfic/{{Verdigris}}'' often blames his daughter Elphaba for his wife's death. Melena died because of a zombie bite, not Elphaba's birth., but her pregnancy cravings to her being bit.

* ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/930434/godzilla-2000-new-era-part-1 Godzilla 2000: New Era]]'': Asuka Shinoda died in childbirth because of radiation exposure to the second Godzilla during the 1984 attack. However whereas her now widowed husband Yuji doesn't at all blame the child Asuka left the world to bring into it, said daughter Io blames herself both for "killing" her mom and making her father so lonely.
-->'''Yuji Shinoda''': "Asuka could save herself or she could save Io. She picked Io.”

* PlayedWith unusually in ''Literature/HarryPotter'' in that the mother didn't die in childbirth, and that the one hating the child isn't related to them. [[spoiler: One of the reasons Severus Snape hates Harry so much is because he blames him for the death of Lily, who he was in love with. If Harry hadn't been born or if Lily had stepped aside and let her son die like Voldemort offered, then she would probably still be alive]].
* In ''Literature/BestServedCold'', the BarbarianHero Shivers justifies his participation in helping to carry out a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, because Shivers wants to avenge the death of his beloved brother, who everyone considered TheAce. Later on, Shivers's POV reveals this is a lie. In reality, Shivers hated his brother. Shivers' mother died giving birth to him, and because of that, [[BeneathTheMask his brother would cruelly abuse him when others weren't watching]].

* In ''Literature/TheEyesOfTheDragon'', Prince Thomas at least imagines that his father and everyone else in the kingdom feels this way. Possibly {{Subverted}}--while it's true that Peter is King Roland's favorite son, this trope doesn't actually seem to be the reason behind it.[[note]]It's more that Peter has all of Queen Sasha's best traits, while Thomas reminds Roland too much of his own shortcomings.[[/note]] Also, as a twist, Queen Sasha was actually murdered by the midwife during Thomas' birth, on [[EvilSorcerer Flagg]]'s orders.

** This is a part of Daenerys's backstory, whose mother also died giving birth to her while her mother and brother were on the run from assassins. For that, her narration states, her older brother [[FallenPrincess Viserys]] had never forgiven her, although he continued to care for her until his StartOfDarkness.

* Inverted in ''Literature/CruelBeauty'': Nyx came out of her mother's womb easily but her twin sister Astraia's birth soon after caused fatal complications. However, their father favors Astraia because she strongly resembles her mother and treats Nyx as TheUnfavorite because she resembles him instead and Nyx theorizes that the ''lack'' of difficulty of her birth only reminds him of how he himself [[SurvivorsGuilt escaped the suffering]] his DealWithTheDevil caused his beloved wife and Astraia.
* In ''Literature/TheLegendOfTheIcePeople'' Tengel, the hero of the first few books was repeatedly told as a child that he'd killed his mother.
* The entire point of Juan Rulfo's short story 'La Herencia de Matilde Arcangel' (The Legacy of Matilde Arcangel)

* In the Creator/VCAndrews Literature/TheCasteelSeries, the heroine correctly assumes that her father hates her because her mother dies in childbirth. But as the series continues, she learns that his resentment is heightened by the fact that she isn't even his daughter, to begin with. (She's the result of her mother's rape by her stepfather)
* In ''[[Literature/AnneOfGreenGables Anne of Windy Poplars]]'', Elizabeth Grayson suffers constant psychological abuse at the hands of her great-grandmother's housekeeper who used to dote on her mother, who died in childbirth. She is abandoned by her father for the same reason, although [[spoiler: a letter sent by Anne and describing what sort of life Elizabeth leads triggers his HeelRealization, and he returns to take the girl away]].

* One episode of ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' has a client hire the Dollhouse to program a mother for his newborn whose actual mother died in childbirth. He blamed the baby and could not give him the love he needed. In a rare subversion, the client knew it was irrational and still wanted the child to be loved which was why he had them program Echo to think she was his mother. By the end of the episode, he's gotten over his issues and takes care of his son on his own.

** Like the books, Tywin Lannister makes no effort to hide the fact that he blames his dwarf son for his wife's DeathByChildbirth. Cersei also blames Tyrion for their mother's death, even when they were both kids and wishes death upon him for his "murder", and after Tyrion makes a joke about her [[BrotherSisterIncest hidden relationship with Jaime]] she makes an even crueler taunt that Joanna died for his sake, which should be Tyrion's greatest joke. Jaime is, in fact, Tyrion's only immediate relative who loves him unconditionally.

* Heihachi Mishima, the BigBad of ''Videogame/{{Tekken}}'', was a very nice man who loved his wife. Then she died while giving birth to his son, so he threw said son off a cliff and set about building an army to conquer the world. [[spoiler: Then it turns out Heihachi killed Kazumi because she tried to kill him, and his son surviving being tossed off the cliff confirmed his suspicions of inheriting the Devil Gene from her.]]
* When Alistair "reunites" with his older half-sister Goldanna in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', she accuses him of killing their mother in childbirth. [[spoiler: According to tie-in canon, his mother is someone else entirely and they're not actually related]].

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
** An unusual example occurs with Amethyst. The process of making Gems involves sucking life away from the ground around the Gem, so mass productions of Gem can wipe out entire planets. Amethyst was made after Gems came to Earth and attempted to colonize it, with the Prime Kindergarten destroying all life in a canyon. After emerging 500 years late, Amethyst grew to think that the other Gems resented her for being the product of a project that would have destroyed the Earth, and developed deep self-hatred issues as a result. It wasn't until "On the Run" that all of this came to light with both the audience and the other Crystal Gems, and Pearl finally told Amethyst that she considered her to be the one good thing that came from the attempted colonization.
** The second season reveals that Steven worries that the Crystal Gems may secretly blame him regarding the death of their leader, his mother Rose Quartz. He likely developed the notion after season one's "Rose's Scabbard", in which Pearl yells at him for even suggesting that he could understand his mother's actions, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness doesn't come to his aid]] when he nearly dies trying to chase after her following said outburst, and openly wonders how much of her was left behind in him. Though in Pearl's case, her extreme reactions are partially because Rose was ''her'' LoveInterest and said death was [[LoveTriangle just salt on the wound of losing her to Greg]], whom she openly treats with disdain until the third season.

* Inverted in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' with Prince Garma Zabi. His mother, Nacliss, died giving birth to him and he is the favorite son of his father, Dozle.

* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', Snivley's father Colin tried to avoid this trope, but Snivley growing up with several traits he despised caused him to resent his son. This resulted in the demeaning nickname and him going to work for Dr. Robotnik.

** Tywin Lannister loathes his son Tyrion because Tywin's wife Joanna (who was pretty much Tywin's MoralityChain) died giving birth to Tyrion. The fact that Tyrion was born with dwarfism and other deformities don't help. Tywin only acknowledges Tyrion as his son to the extent necessary under social norms, and openly tells Tyrion that if it wasn't for the love Tywin bore his mother, Tywin would have left him to die at birth. His older sister Cersei also treats him this way. This really comes back to bite them, since Tyrion is actually one of the more competent Lannisters. [[spoiler: When Tyrion discovers that Tywin not only framed him for Joffrey's murder but convinced him that his legitimate wife was nothing more than a whore, Tyrion kills him.]]

* In the backstory for ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'', Oskar von Reuenthal's mother committed suicide when he was born because his [[DualityMotif distinctive two-tone eyes]] were living proof of her infidelity. Reuenthal spent his entire childhood being told by his father that life would have been better had he never been born, which very much warped his sense of self-worth.
* ''Manga/BlackClover'': Arguably the main source of Noelle's issues. Subjected to this by her father and elder siblings, with Nozel even lamenting that [[YouShouldHaveDiedInstead Noelle didn’t die in place of their mother]]. The fact that Noelle was born and grew up unable to properly control her own magic, no doubt intensified this lingering resentment and belief already held by her family.
* In ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'', Jun Ushiro [[BigBrotherBully abuses his little sister, Kana]] because their mother died giving birth to her. In the manga, Kanji, a long-time friend of the siblings, gives Ushiro a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech saying that as uncaring as Ushiro is, he doesn't want Kana to die, since Ushiro's angry with his mother for dying, and is taking out his anger toward her on Kana. [[spoiler: It turns out that Kana's mother isn't Ushiro's mother- in fact, he was adopted when his own mother, Misumi Tanaka, abandoned him]].

* Could be the case on ''Series/GossipGirl''. Chuck Bass spends the first two seasons believing his father hates him because Mama Bass died giving birth to him. Then season three features a woman who claims to be Chuck's mother and that Bart simply told him she was dead because she ran out on them when Chuck was a baby. Said woman then proceeds to con him out of his hotel and leave town and the show never bothers to make it clear whether or not she was his mother or a con artist who knew the Basses back when Chuck was little. To make matters more confusing, in season two Bart talks to Chuck about his mother and claims he doesn't blame him for her death but has a hard time connecting to his son because he looks so much like the wife Bart lost. Then in season six Bart is pretty much plain evil and hates Chuck for no apparent reason.

* This is part of the backstory of Roger Samms, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/BadMojo''.

** The second book contains a variation in which both the mother ''and'' the child die. Thonolan and Jetamio have been trying to have a child together, but Jetamio keeps miscarrying. Eventually, she carries a pregnancy to term, only for complications to arise during labour due to a combination of the child being breech and Jetamio's hips being too narrow, resulting in Jetamio's death. The local healer tries to save the child (a boy) by performing an emergency c-section, but is unable to get the child out in time. When Thonolan is told this, he says he "doesn't want to see the son that killed her", suggesting that, even if the child had survived, he would have blamed him for what happened to Jetamio.
** In the sixth book, Ayla wonders if one of the reasons "children of mixed spirits" came to be regarded as "abominations" is the increased risk of potentially fatal complications if the mother is a Cro-Magnon. The heads of such babies, in addition to being shaped differently, are often too big for a Cro-Magnon woman to deliver, which can lead to the mother's death.

* In ''Literature/LanguageArts'', Sister Georgia's mother died in childbirth, depriving her father of the son he wanted. Her father never forgaver her, especially after she turned out to be "backwards."

[[folder:Video Games]]

* In ''Literature/WutheringHeights," Heathcliff tells Cathy Linton that he cursed her when she came into the world because her birth killed her mother, his soulmate Catherine Earnshaw. This, combined with the fact that her father is Edgar Linton, making her the living symbol of her mother's rejection of Heathcliff for the wealthier man, makes her one of the central targets of Heathcliff's schemes for revenge.

* In ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', Snivley's father Colin tried to avoid this trope, but Snivley growing up with several traits he despised caused him to resent his son. This resulted in the demeaning nickname and him going to work for Dr. Robotnik.

* [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/930434/godzilla-2000-new-era-part-1 ''Godzilla 2000: New Era'']]: Asuka Shinoda died in childbirth because of radiation exposure to the second Godzilla during the 1984 attack. However whereas her now widowed husband Yuji doesn't at all blame the child Asuka left the world to bring into it, said daughter Io blames herself both for "killing" her mom and making her father so lonely.

* ''Manga/KodomoNoOmocha'': Akito's issues turn out to be largely caused by his sister Natsumi blaming him for their mother's DeathByChildbirth. He assumed this was the case with his father as well, but it turned out Dad was just distant because he's a {{Workaholic}}, and working out his grief in his own way.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

* In ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'', Jun Ushiro [[BigBrotherBully abuses his little sister, Kana]] because their mother died giving birth to her. In the manga, Kanji, a long-time friend of the siblings, gives Ushiro a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech saying that as uncaring as Ushiro is, he doesn't want Kana to die, since Ushiro's angry with his mother for dying, and is taking out his anger toward her on Kana. [[spoiler:It turns out that Kana's mother isn't Ushiro's mother- in fact, he was adopted when his own mother, Misumi Tanaka, abandoned him]].

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', Snivley's father Colin tried to avoid this trope, but Snivley growing up with several traits he despised caused him to resent his son. This resulted in the demeaning nickname, and him going to work for Dr. Robotnik.

* PlayedWith in ''ComicBook/SpiderMan''--[[WellDoneSonGuy Harry Osborn]]'s mother, Emily, died within the first year or so of her son's life; it wasn't DeathByChildbirth, but ComicBook/NormanOsborn still muses that losing her and gaining Harry was a sort of trade--and, since Emily seems to be one of the few people he sincerely cared about, he feels like he got the short end of the stick.

[[folder:Fairy Tales]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]

* In the core FanFic/TriptychContinuum fanfic "Triptych", [[spoiler:Doctor Gentle]] blames his daughter [[spoiler:the nameless pony ''Her'']] because his wife died giving birth to her. [[spoiler:She was also born an Earth Pony. The idea that his wife died giving birth to an Earth Pony who would never be able to use unicorn magic was not something Gentle could accept. So he would dedicate himself to "correct" this, leading to the main plot of the story. For extra cruelty points, part of the grooming process he did was to deliberately refuse to name her and repeatedly drill it into her head that she killed her mother and that she ''has'' to make up for it.]]

* ''Fanfic/TheRoseAndTheCrown'': [[spoiler:It turns out Katherine was brought back to life by the witches and, in turn, she must bring them Phlippe. When asked how she can do that to her own son, she describes him as her murderer]].
* ''Fanfic/FatesCollide'': Victor Frankenstein is Fran's [[RelatedInTheAdaptation biological father instead of creator]] in this story. Victor blames Fran for his wife dying while giving birth to her. He abandoned her, but eventually decides he'll never get closure for his wife's death unless he kills her. Fortunately, he fails.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Film/WarCraft'', Lothar's wife died giving birth to their son Callan, making Lothar resentful of his son for it. Lothar eventually realized how unfair and cruel he was being, but Callan still spent his life trying to earn his father's approval by becoming a great warrior, [[spoiler:which eventually led to him being killed by Blackhand.]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* PlayedWith unusually in ''Literature/HarryPotter'' in that the mother didn't die in childbirth, and that the one hating the child isn't related to them. [[spoiler:One of the reasons Severus Snape hates Harry so much is because he blames him for the death of Lily, who he was in love with. If Harry hadn't been born or if Lily had stepped aside and let her son die like Voldemort offered, then she would probably still be alive]].
* In ''Literature/BestServedCold'', the BarbarianHero Shivers justifies his participation in helping to carry out a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, because Shivers wants to avenge the death of his beloved brother, who everyone considered TheAce. Later on, Shivers POV reveals this is a lie. In reality, Shivers hated his brother. Shivers' mother died giving birth to him, and because of that, [[BeneathTheMask his brother would cruelly abuse him when others weren't watching]].

** Tywin Lannister loathes his son Tyrion, because Tywin's wife, Joanna (who was pretty much Tywin's MoralityChain) died giving birth to Tyrion. The fact that Tyrion was born with dwarfism and other deformities don't help. Tywin only acknowledges Tyrion as his son to the extent necessary under social norms, and openly tells Tyrion that if it wasn't for the love Tywin bore his mother, Tywin would have left him to die at birth. His older sister Cersei also treats him this way. This really comes back to bite them, since Tyrion is actually one of the more competent Lannisters. [[spoiler: When Tyrion discovers that Tywin not only framed him for Joffry's murder, but convinced him that his legitimate wife was nothing more than a whore, Tyrion kills him.]]

* In ''[[Literature/AnneOfGreenGables Anne of Windy Poplars]]'', Elizabeth Grayson suffers constant psychological abuse at the hands of her great-grandmother's housekeeper who used to dote on her mother, who died in childbirth. She is abandoned by her father for the same reason, although [[spoiler:a letter sent by Anne and describing what sort of life Elizabeth leads triggers his HeelRealization, and he returns to take the girl away]].
* In ''Literature/WutheringHeights," Heathcliff tells Cathy Linton that he cursed her when she came into the world, because her birth killed her mother, his soulmate Catherine Earnshaw. This, combined with the fact that her father is Edgar Linton, making her the living symbol of her mother's rejection of Heathcliff for the wealthier man, make her one of the central targets of Heathcliff's schemes for revenge.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]

[[folder:Music]]

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]

[[folder:Theatre]]

* In the musical of ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', Elphaba is blamed for her mother's death, even though she died after giving birth to her ''younger'' sister, Nessarose. Their father wanted to make sure there were no more green kids in the family, so he made the mother chew milkweed pods. The result was a fair skinned but crippled daughter and the mother died soon afterwards. The father blames Elphaba for causing this by being green in the first place.

* When Alistair "reunites" with his older half-sister Goldanna in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', she accuses him of killing their mother in childbirth. [[spoiler:According to tie-in canon, his mother is someone else entirely and they're not actually related]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* It's implied in ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' that Anthony Carver may have some feeling of this towards his daughter Antimony, given the way he disappeared on her and her mother's statement in flashback "he ''still'' loves you very much" (emphasis added), but given his total lack of contact it's hard to say for sure. [[spoiler:The reason is that Surma was part fire-elemental and passed that on to Annie, which means Annie ''literally'' took her mother's life force as she grew older. And when Anthony does turn up as a teacher, his behavior towards Annie is rather heartless. When she is given an opportunity to spy on him during a vulnerable moment, it's revealed that Anthony really blames ''himself'' for not being able to find a way to save Surma. His cold behavior towards Annie was an unhealthy reaction to her startling resemblance to Surma (which is why he insisted on her removing her makeup), and he expresses great shame about it later in private.]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* In her autobiography, Adeline Yen Mah states that her birth mother died shortly after her birth, causing her siblings and father to resent her, but doesn't fully come to a head until she gains a WickedStepmother, leading to their [[TheUnfavorite awful treatment of her]], up to abandoning her at a school in a ''war zone''.

* Present in some adaptations of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', which explain why young Ebenezer was left at school over the holidays with this trope. [[note]]The existence of Ebenezer's younger sister argues against it, but his father might have remarried.[[/note]] It may also explain why he's so cold towards his nephew, Fred, whose mother (Ebenezer's sister) is said to have died giving birth to him.

* In her Autobiography, Adeline Yen Mah states that her birth mother died shortly after her birth, causing her siblings and father to resent her, but doesn't fully come to a head until she gains a WickedStepmother, leading to their [[TheUnfavorite awful treatment of her]], up to abandoning her at a school in ''war zone''.