A Cause De- Childbirth Statistics

This is less of a factor in the French Revolution of 1789, but it does help us to understand some of the fears and frustrations of people's lives.

"A woman had a one-in-twenty chance of dying as a result of the delivery, perhaps a victim of septic infection or puerperal fever, both agonizing deaths. [She] could expect...as many as half a dozen pregnancies, making those death rates a sobering statistic. Her baby had even slimmer chances of survival. French doctors estimated that nearly a third of the children born would die before the end of their second year of life."
- The Widow Clicquot