History Main / MaternalDeathBlameTheChild

** 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 doesn'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.]]

** Another variant, bordering on an inversion, involves [[spoiler: Akechi as the biological son of Masayoshi Shido, who ordered him to kill Futaba's mother to begin with. His true goal [[TheStarscream from working with him]] was to enact revenge on his mother's [[DrivenToSuicide real suicide]] as a result of his abandonment. Unfortunately, Shido was planning to [[YouHaveOutlvedYourUsefulness get rid of him anyway to tie up loose ends]], even having some some idea of [[ProperlyParanoid who he really was and what he was trying to do]].]]

* Present in some adaptations of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', which explain why young Ebenezer was left at school over the holidays with this trope. [[note]]These adaptations will typically make Scrooge's sister older than him, rather than younger as she was in the book.[[/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.

* ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'': This is part of the reason Tigerstar gives Stormpaw and Featherpaw the dishonor titles of Graypaw and Silverpaw. The other reason is emphasizing how their father is a traitor and their birth was a crime in general.

* The original ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestria'' has Deadshot Calamity be the victim of this. Not only was it how he got his name, but his father hated him because of it.

* In Megan Kearney's ''Beauty and The Beast'', Temperance used to be a [[BigBrotherBully Big Sister Bully]] to Beauty because she blamed her for the loss of their mother Elise, although she eventually outgrew it and the two are now very close. Beauty thinks this was because her birth weakened Elise's health, leading indirectly to her death. Actually, [[spoiler:Temperance probably realized that Elise had sacrificed herself in a magical bargain to save Beauty when the latter was gravely ill as a little girl.]]

Needless to say, this child will commonly grow up to be TheUnFavourite. Bonus points if someone mentioned that [[YouShouldHaveDiedInstead the child should've died instead]].

Typically, this involves [[AbusiveParents being hated or otherwise ill-treated by their father]], their (maybe) ResentfulGuardian. Other relatives are free to join in, though. Who's actually to blame for the death is completely irrelevant -- there are too many historical cases of DeathByChildbirth caused by doctor screw-ups (and ''Streptococcus pneumoniae''), but if this trope is in play the kid's still getting full blame. Likewise, don't expect anyone to point out that the father is much more blameworthy for the mother's death than the child, as he's the one who impregnated her in the first place. Also, keep in mind that this trope also applies when the child blames themselves for "killing" their mother.

Needless to say, this child will commonly grow up to be TheUnfavorite. Bonus points if someone mentioned that [[YouShouldHaveDiedInstead the child should've died instead.]]

* Downplayed in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''' when Edward tells Bella, who's dying from her accelerated supernatural pregnancy, that there's no way that he could ever love the baby if Bella dies. Bella and Edward are unusually insular when it comes to their romance so he's telling the truth. He changes his mind when he hears the baby's thoughts.

Typically, this involves [[AbusiveParents being hated or otherwise ill-treated by their father]], their (maybe) ResentfulGuardian. Other relatives are free to join in, though. Who's actually to blame for the death is completely irrelevant -- there are too many historical cases of DeathByChildbirth caused by doctor screw-ups (and ''Streptococcus pneumoniae''), but if this trope is in play the kid's still getting full blame. Likewise, don't expect anyone to point out that the father is much more blameworthy for the mother's death than the child, as he's the one who impregnated her in the first place. Also, keep in mind that this trope also applies when only the child blames themselves for "killing" their mother.

* 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.]]

* In ''Literature/Son'', Einar's mother died when he was born, and his father blames him for it.

* ''LightNovel/TheFarawayPaladin'': Meneldor's mother died shortly after giving birth to him, which was part of the reason why he was ostracized by his village and in turn eventually left it to become an adventurer.

* A variation occurs in ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'': Orel's father, Clay, was his parents' only living child after his mother, Angela, suffered ''ten'' miscarriages due to her excessive drinking, smoking, and overall recklessness while pregnant (Clay survived because Angela spent most of that pregnancy praying for his safety instead). After Angela finally tells Clay about his unborn siblings, he responds by [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior faking suicide with his dad's gun]] as a prank; unfortunately, this is too much for [[IllGirl Angela's weak heart]], and she collapses and dies in her husband's arms. Arthur (Clay's dad) openly blames Clay for killing Angela, but also decides that Clay is not worth hitting after Clay intentionally tries to antagonize him (which results in [[FreudianExcuse Clay associating abuse with affection and attention]]).

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[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', Snively’s father Colin tried to avoid this trope, but Snively 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]]

* [[OriginalCharacter Karma]] [[CloudCuckoolander Graves]] from ''Blog/ThePredespairKids'' was a ''serious'' victim of this. After [[DeathByChildbirth her mother died giving birth to her]], [[AbusiveParents her father]] blamed her and kept her locked in the basement for the first thirteen years of her life. She was eventually rescued by an agency and became the Ultimate Secret Agent, but the damage from her experience has continued to plague her. [[WordOfGod Her creator]] has heavily implied some of the things she experienced during her childhood, [[ParentalIncest and]] [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil well...]]

* 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 "correcting" 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/WarriorsRewrite'': Darkstripe hates his younger brother Graystripe because their mother died in childbirth with him.

* ''Fanfic/TheRoseAndTheCrown'': [[spoiler: It turns out Katherine was brought back to life by the witches and, in turn, she must bring them Philippe. 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.

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Emily's father blames his daughter for his wife's DeathByChildbirth, [[AbusiveParents verbally and physically abusing her]] because of it.
* ''[[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.
* ''Fanfic/RubyAndNora'': Raven and Qrow Branwen are twins and their mother Ava died in childbirth while delivering Qrow. Thus, Raven considers it his first kill. Unlike most examples, however, she sees this as a point of pride. This is shown as another example of her sociopathic nature since she wishes she could've done it.

[[folder: Films -- Animation]]

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

* PlayedWith in ''Film/Boy2010'': Boy always told his younger brother, Rocky, that their mother's DeathByChildbirth was the result of Rocky's "superpowers," in what seems to have been a well-meaning attempt to make Rocky feel better about it. It doesn't seem to have worked, however, as Rocky actually apologizes to their father for this near the end of the film. (Boy, in contrast, blames their dad for her death, or at least for [[DisappearedDad not being there]] when it happened.)

* Gender-flipped in ''Film/TheBabadook'', where the HauntedHeroine's husband was killed in a car accident trying to get her to the hospital when she went into labour. Her unarticulated resentment and [[ThereAreNoTherapists unresolved grief]] drive the plot.

[[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 the boy for the death of Lily, Harry's mother, with whom Snape was in love. 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.]]

** 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 doesn'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.]]

* The ''Literature/GreatAltaSaga'' starts off with the heroine's mother dying in childbirth and the father handing the new baby over to the midwife to be fostered, because he can't love the child who killed his wife.

* Averted in Creator/GregEgan's ''Literature/{{Orthogonal}}'' trilogy. For most of the first two books, it is universally accepted that a mother is incapable of surviving childbirth (which involves fission) -- so DeathByChildbirth ''always'' applies. This is almost universally accepted as a fact of life.
* In the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'', Ganth's birth weakened his mother, and his sister Tieri's killed her. Their father, Gerraint Highlord, blamed both of them for her death and showed extreme ParentalFavoritism to his eldest son Greshan.
* In the Disney ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' prequel ''Fairest of All: Literature/ATaleOf the Wicked Queen'', this is part of the Queen's backstory. Her father, the finest mirror maker in the kingdom, resented her as she grew up [[spoiler: and continued that abuse after his death in the form of the Spirit of the Magic Mirror]].
* Discussed in ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'', when Granny Weatherwax assists at a difficult birth and realizes that the mother and child aren't both going to survive. She focuses her efforts on saving the mother because she judges that this would be the result if the mother died and the child survived.
* 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. 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.
* This is the entire point of Juan Rulfo's short story 'La Herencia de Matilde Arcangel' (The Legacy of Matilde Arcangel).
* In the ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' trilogy, Isaac Nettle [[AbusiveParents abuses his son Jenkin]], mainly because his mother died giving birth to him.
* Subverted in the novel ''The Doctors'', where a character's mother survived childbirth. However, she developed postpartum depression that led to her killing herself, so his father blames him for his mother's death anyway.
* 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. (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; however, [[spoiler: a letter sent by Anne, describing what sort of life Elizabeth leads, triggers his HeelRealization, and he returns to take the girl away]].

* In ''Literature/LanguageArts'', Sister Georgia's mother died in childbirth, depriving her father of the son he wanted. Her father never forgave her, especially after she turned out to be "backwards."
* ''Literature/EarthsChildren'':
** The second book contains a variation in which both the mother ''and'' the child die. Jetamio has been trying to give Thonolan a child, but 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 about 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" (people of mixed Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon heritage) 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.
* Downplayed in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''' when Edward tells Bella, who's dying from her accelerated supernatural pregnancy, that there's no way that he could ever love the baby if Bella dies. Bella and Edward are unusually insular when it comes to their romance so he's telling the truth. He changes his mind when he hears the baby's thoughts.

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

* Could be the case on ''Series/GossipGirl2007''. 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.
* A combination of this trope and ChildByRape led to the most prolific (non-CanonDiscontinuity) serial killer on ''Series/CriminalMinds.'' Tommy Yates's mother was raped as a teenager and then died giving birth to him, leaving him in the care of his abusive grandmother. Her treatment of him (particularly telling him "My daughter's womb was cursed") made him a violent misogynist who abducted, starved, and mutilated over one hundred women.

[[folder: Music]]

[[folder: Myths & Religion]]

[[folder: Theatre]]

* In the musical of ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', Elphaba is blamed for her mother's death even though her mother 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 afterward. The father blames Elphaba for causing this by being green in the first place.

[[folder: Video Games]]

* This is part of the backstory of Roger Samms, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/BadMojo''. [[spoiler: Though the truth is complicated. It was mostly his father, Eddie his landlord, being unable to care for Roger due to his own situation and mental health and willingly turned him over to what turned out to be a OrphanageOfFear.]]
* 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. However, at the time they have this conversation, neither of them is aware of that due to some heavily edited historical documents.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', [[AbusiveParents Lemkil]] of Rorikstead openly blames his twin daughters for his wife's death.
* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' the MemoryJar of the SerialKiller known as "Peter Pan" showed that his FreudianExcuse stemmed from this. His father blamed him for his mother's death and reminded him of this when he forgot to look after one of their sick cows before leaving for school, saying that he killed it as he killed her.

* ''VideoGame/ChzoMythos'' has Sir Roderick [=DeFoe=] blame the death of his wife entirely on John [=DeFoe=] and locks him in the basement for 15 years, [[AbusiveParents physically attacking him]] until he tries to kill him.
* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaAMachineForPigs''' Oswald Mandus has a conflicted mindset towards his twin sons, seeing them simultaneously as this and SomeoneToRememberHimBy.

[[folder: Web Comics]]

* In Megan Kearney's ''Beauty and The Beast'', Temperance used to be a [[BigBrotherBully Big Sister Bully]] to Beauty because she blamed her for the loss of their mother Elise, although she eventually outgrew it and the two are now very close. Beauty thinks this was because her birth weakened Elise's health, leading indirectly to her death. Actually, [[spoiler: Temperance probably realized that Elise had sacrificed herself in a magical bargain to save Beauty when the latter was gravely ill as a little girl.]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* While it's left ambiguous, Tygra of the ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' series may blame Lion-O for the death of his [[HappilyAdopted adoptive mother]], the queen. Of course, her being a delicate waif at the time of Lion-O's birth has probably never occurred to him. To complicate matters further, the king treated Tygra like a son up until then, but their relationship changed with the birth of [[InadequateInheritor Lion-O]], who was pretty much guaranteed to inherit the throne by virtue of being a [[TheWrongfulHeirToTheThrone biological heir]], no matter what the older [[TheUnchosenOne Tygra]] may have done to be [[TheDutifulSon more deserving of the throne]].
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': 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.

[[folder: Real Life]]

* 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.