Line #20 PlayingWith/DeathByChildbirth


1	'''Basic Trope''': A woman (usually cleanly and unrealistically) dies in childbirth.
2	* '''Straight''': [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin A woman dies in childbirth.]]
3	* '''Exaggerated''':
4	** Every woman who gives birth dies trying.
5	** A woman dies several hours before the birth of her child and has it carved out of her.
6	* '''Downplayed''': A woman has an extremely difficult birth and is in danger of death, but she survives.
7	* '''Justified''':
8	** The woman has a disease or a condition making it unlikely that she will survive childbirth.
9	** The woman has a risky multiple pregnancy.
10	** The show is set in a time period before medicine and hygiene were sufficiently advanced to keep this sort of thing from happening... Or {{after\|TheEnd}}.
11	** In a MisterSeahorse situation, the problems inherent to pregnancy and childbirth in a being that is simply ''not'' designed for it.
12	** The woman is giving birth at home, and runs into complications, but she is unable to get to a hospital in a timely manner or at all.
13	** The woman is of a species where [[ChestBurster the offspring eat their mother from the womb outwards]].
14	* '''Inverted''':
15	** The woman lives, but the baby dies.
16	** [[OurZombiesAreDifferent A zombie woman]] gives birth to a baby, and the woman comes back to life because of this.
17	** The woman and the baby live, but the father dies in an unrelated incident.
18	* '''Subverted''': It looks like she's going to die (perhaps in a show where this sort of thing is common), but she pulls through.
19	* '''Double Subverted''': ...but then she gets septicemia and dies after the fact.
20	* '''Parodied''':
21	** Having the baby causes Alice to split neatly in half, perhaps because the baby is gigantic.
22	** The baby leaves his/her mom's body as if he/she were a ChestBurster.
23	** The baby kills their own mother after being born.
24	* '''Zig Zagged''': The woman is about to die. Miraculously, she lives! But then she gets septicemia and is dying... but then [[AWizardDidIt a mage heals her!]] But she dies anyway because the spell failed. Then somehow she gets brought back to life...
25	* '''Averted''': No mention is made of dying in childbirth and the birth itself goes normally.
26	* '''Enforced''': "This actress is quitting the show. Have her die in childbirth!"
27	* '''Lampshaded''': "Before you ask, reader, no, this heroine's mother did ''not'' die in childbirth, [[Creator/JaneAusten although I can see why you would assume that, given how often it happens.]]"
28	* '''Invoked''':
29	** A curse is put on Alice so she'll die in childbirth.
30	** The baby is stuck and/or breech
31	** A man impregnates a weak ill woman to fulfill a prophecy where TheChosenOne is born right before his mother dies.
32	* '''Exploited''': A man wants to witness her death out of pure hatred and decides to see her child get born because this takes place during a time where DeathByChildBirth was very probable.
33	* '''Defied''':
34	** A blessing is put on Alice so she's temporarily immortal when she gives birth.
35	** Alice's midwife knows how to do an episiotomy or C-section and even how to minimize the risk of infection, thus saving Alice.
36	* '''Discussed''': "We aren't living in the Middle Ages, after all. With our standards of hygiene, it's unlikely that Alice will die in childbirth."
37	* '''Conversed''': "Dying in childbirth? That's supposed to be really common in shows like this, isn't it?"
38	* '''Deconstructed''': The death is portrayed realistically, with days of agony, screaming, massive blood loss, etc... Worse, with such a high childbirth fatality rate, the local population starts to stagnate, with most women unable to birth more than one or two children without dying, and even more are discouraged from wanting children by it. The birth rate declines and the death rate remains the same.
39	** Not only that, picture a child who learns at some point as soon as they learn to walk and talk, if at that: even without the risk of MaternalDeathBlameTheChild, it's no surprise as to how far the rest of the family, biological and/or adoptive, would go to keep it on the down low; after all, such topics like NeverSayDie [[NotInFrontOfTheKid exist for a darn good reason.]]
40	* '''Reconstructed''':
41	** The characters know what a Death by Childbirth is like, so they take steps to prepare for it, should it happen.
42	** A school for midwives is opened in the area, training nurses in how to coax a mother through childbirth safely. The death rate in childbirth declines.
43	** The citizens push for a change in the laws concerning the minimum age for marriage, and for birth certificates to enforce it, so that girls don't end up giving birth in their [[TeenPregnancy early to mid teens]], when they themselves are still growing.
44	----
45	Back to DeathByChildbirth
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47	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
48	%%
49	%%* '''Implied''': ???
50	%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
51	%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???

Context PlayingWith / DeathByChildbirth