Author's note to readers: 7/18/10 Sorry that it has taken a few days to update—again real life was calling. I edited this very quickly so can't guarantee if I caught all the errors—I probably didn't. I will try to catch them and correct tomorrow.

Chapter 76 To Bring Forth Life

General Tavington looked up from the book on his desk, then at his pocket watch. He had an appointment to meet with two young officers coming by the house. They hadn't arrived yet.

Will stood and stretched as he thought about his wife, now bedridden with her pregnancy. Inside, he was worried about her and the child, having heard stories recounted about mothers or babies—sometimes both—dying during childbirth. There were few things in life that had scared this brave officer, but the thought of his wife, sickly with this pregnancy, giving birth most certainly did. Still, he showed a stoic face to the world but would definitely feel better once Melanie had delivered the baby and was resting comfortably.

The officer decided against checking on Melanie. He wanted her to rest as she'd had trouble sleeping the night before. She'd kept him awake, as well, as he worried for her. His young wife tossed and turned all night long, unable to find a good position to rest in. The poor girl complained that she was having trouble breathing, assuming that the babe within rested squarely on her diaphragm. She cried, saying that she just wanted to have the baby and get it all over with.

William sauntered out to the porch just in time to catch the two redcoat officers riding up the lane. He was looking forward to meeting with them, glad for the temporary distraction of the matters at hand. After greeting the young men, he led them out to the gazebo, deciding to meet with them out there on this mild winter day.

It had been three days since Melanie's close call with a near miscarriage. She had done as the doctor directed: staying in bed resting, and trying to have no worries. The doctor had limited the number of visitors she could in order for her to rest. As a result, Mrs. Tavington wiled away most of the time along. Mrs. Wilkins had been her one steadfast visitor, though only allowed for short visits at a time.

This morning, as General Tavington visited with the officers outside, Melanie, much to her own chagrin, found herself alone again in her room. She felt odd this morning, not feeling the baby moving at all within her. The young woman also felt bloated and uncomfortable as she tried to sit up. Once up, the girl noticed that the baby seemed lower in her body, and sitting right on her coccyx, making it so that she wanted to lie back down.

She rolled over to her side, then felt a couple of light pains in her back. She shifted her body to the other side, hoping to ease the ache of her back. After a few minutes of little relief, she started to feel hard cramps in her belly. And after a few more moments of moving and shifting positions in her bed, she sighed, thinking that she would have to give in to her misery.

Lying on her back staring at the ceiling, she put her arm over her eyes, blocking the light of the day. As she lay there, she wondered what else she could possibly do for relief. As she stayed still a few moments, she noticed that the cramps seemed to come and go regularly, lasting briefly, with a break in between. Melanie's eyes and mouth opened, an alarmed look on her face as she realized she had probably started contractions.

The girl panicked. "Oh my God! This can't be! It's too early," she said to herself. "No. Oh no!"

"William!" she called. "Will!"

There was no answer. She began shouting for anyone who could hear her.

"Mrs. Sloane!"

"Diedre!"

Still no answer.

"My God! Where is everyone?" she cried aloud.

Since no one was answering, Melanie went against orders and got out of bed. She walked into the hallway, looking down it both directions, then peering over the banister down to the first floor. She saw no one. Mrs. Tavington was about to yell again when a hard pain just like the ones she'd had three days ago hit her middle. It took her breath away.

In an instant, the young wife collapsed onto the floor. The girl felt too weak to pull herself back up to her feet. She managed to drag herself a couple of feet to the wall, which she reclined back against. Weak and in pain, tears came to her eyes.

The girl put her hands on her swollen belly, holding onto it. "God, someone please help," she cried weakly, "the baby."

After another moment of being propped against the wall and panting, she felt as if she'd lost control of her bladder. The young woman looked down to see a spreading stain of wetness on her nightgown and the floor around her.

Closing her eyes, Melanie tried to calm herself, consciously trying to slow her breathing. The woman could feel her heart beating hard and swiftly within her chest. All she could do was sit there, hoping it would not be too long before someone would find her.

And after only a short while, the girl heard soft footsteps coming up the stairway. Melanie opened her eyes, looking up to find Diedre the maid standing over her with a horrified look on her face.

"Good Lord, Mrs. Tavington!" she exclaimed, "What are you doing out of bed?"

Her eyes widened as she looked at the stain of wetness on the mistress' gown and the floor.

"I think the baby's coming," Melanie whispered.

Diedre ran down the stair calling all the servants. "Get Mrs. Bronner and Dr. Manning! The mistress' labor has begun!"

Mrs. Sloane heard the commotion and went to the side door of the house. "Jonas," she called to the young stable boy," fetch Mrs. Wilkins to come sit with Mrs. Tavington."

The housekeeper strode back through the house to the front porch where she called out across the lawn, getting the attention of the three officers in the pavilion. "General! Come quickly! It's your wife!"

William hastily bid farewell to the young captains, who knew of the situation, and raced to the house.

"What's the trouble?" he asked as he threw his uniform coat over a nearby chair. The man quickly started up the steps.

"She's gone into labor," Diedre informed, moving up the stairway behind the man.

"But she's not due for weeks," he muttered. The anxious man continued to charge up the stairs until he reached the hallway landing. He found his wife sitting of the floor in the hall. She was holding her belly and whimpering.

Will raced to her side and knelt down next to her. Melanie was breathing in puffs. She looked up at him with a tearstained face.

"William," she panted. "I'm sorry. The baby."

"Nonsense, darling. Nothing to be sorry for," Will said, trying to hide his fear. "Let's get you back to bed."

With strength Will lifted his wife off the floor and carried her back into the room. The officer laid her gently on the bed, then sat down next to her.

He watched as Melanie labored through her contractions, her body stiffening and breathing heavily. She squeezed his hand every time a pain hit, then sank back into the bed in relief when they subsided. Tavington lovingly wiped his wife down with cool water, murmuring words of encouragement to her.

William watched her anxiously for two hours as he waited for the midwife and the doctor to arrive. And although Mrs. Wilkins had come soon after hearing of the situation, Will preferred to remain at Melanie's side, determined to stay with her for as long as possible. He knew that when Mrs. Bronner arrived that he would likely be "shooed" out of the room since men were not preferred to attend childbirth.

By the time the midwife arrived nearly three hours later, Mrs. Tavington had turned on to her side, curled into a fetal position with pain. After greeting Mrs. Wilkins and the expectant couple, she spoke to Mrs. Sloane, giving her a list of things needed for the birth.

After the housemaid scurried away to obtain the items, Mrs. Bronner , the midwife, addressed Tavington. "General, I'm afraid you'll have to leave now. This is women's work; she will be taken care of, I assure you."

A worried Tavington spoke up, "Can you help her with the pain?"

"Yes, a little," she answered, "But there is still some pain always during child birth. Your wife will find strength she didn't know that she had. She will be fine, sir."

With that, William found himself standing alone in the hallway after being ushered out of his bedroom. He then wandered downstairs to find Major James Wilkins and his young baby son Jimmy. The general greeted the two, then settled into a chair. The elder Wilkins began talking about the business, the farm, and other various small talk to try to keep his neighbor's mind off his wife's ordeal of giving birth.

Meanwhile upstairs, the midwife set about to the business of helping bring another baby into the world. "Bring your knees up please, Mrs. Tavington," the older woman instructed. I need to check you inside to see how close you are to delivery. It may be a little uncomfortable."

Melanie cringed, knowing from Bridget's recent birth and from sitting with her mother while in labor with her younger siblings what to expect. She winced and squeezed her Irish friend's hand when she felt the midwife's fingers inside her touching her obviously tender and stretched cervix.

Mrs. Bronner looked up from between the young woman's legs to see the girl grimacing and gritting her teeth. She also had felt the her body go rigid, which hampered her from feeling how thin the young wife's cervix had become.

"Try to relax, Mrs. Tavington. I'll make the exam as quick as I can," she said. "Take deep breaths."

In another moment, Melanie sighed with relief when it was done. She straightened her legs back out and let her body sink into the mattress, glad to be in between contractions, as well. Mrs. Tavington looked on as the midwife squeezed and palpated her swollen belly.

Mrs. Bronner gave the scared wife a reassuring smile. "The baby is in a good position with the head down and he is sitting lower now. The child is definitely ready to be born today, but it's going to be a few hours. Try to rest and conserve your energy between the contractions; you will need all your strength for the delivery."

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In the ensuing hours that passed, General Tavington stayed downstairs in the parlor with Mr. Wilkins and his three month old son. An update on the progress would be received every time a servant passed through on the way from the bedchamber to the kitchen or laundry. Mrs. Wilkins did her share of updating and reassuring when she came down to nurse baby Jimmy.

A couple of times William was let in to see his wife. For those few moments he would sit by her on the bed, rubbing her shoulders and back, uttering words of encouragement. Then he'd leave her with a kiss and an "I love you." On his way out he'd quietly plead with the midwife to please give her something for the pain. He worried more each time that he'd get to see her, noting how tired and sick she looked.

Other's tried to help ease the General's mind. Mr. Andrews gave him a stack of papers and bills for the business to be signed. Mr. Barnes made up "tasks" that he needed the plantation master's help or approval with, just to get him out of the house for a few minutes at a time.

Major Wilkins, at one time, tired of William's pacing back and forth, invented a reason to leave baby Jimmy with Tavington. "Uh, General, I need to confer with Mr. Andrews on some winery business. Could I impose upon you to take Jimmy for a walk outside?"

"Certainly," Will answered. With that, the two men walked outside into the mild winter day. Wilkins handed his son to William, who surprisingly took the infant with a smile.

The major turned his head to look back at his commander holding his son as he walked to find Mr. Andrews. He hoped that this would be another distraction, keeping William from the house and from hearing his wife's increasingly pained screams.

Will walked along, stopping at different places, pointing out things to the baby boy. He pointed out things to him and talked to him, as if the three month old child understood completely what the adult was saying. After awhile, the general made his way back to the porch and sat down. Putting Jimmy on his lap, he laughed as he watched the baby see just how many fingers he could put into his mouth at once. Then William smiled as the boy began to wiggle and squirm on his lap. The baby seemed to discover that he had legs and that he could move them. He straightened them to standing, then bent his knees and bounced up and down on the general's lap, amusing the officer as he watched the child exercise.

After awhile, Melanie's pained screams filtered out onto the porch, pulling William's attention from the Wilkins baby. "William!" she cried. With that, Tavington walked into back into the house.

"WILLIAM!" screamed Melanie.

The officer handed the baby back to his father then moved swiftly across the large open hall to the stairway. "Melanie!" he shouted back as he started to bound up the stairway. He was distressed, feeling that something wasn't going right.

Wilkins, afraid of what the frightened new father might find, half expecting the worst, handed his child to Mrs. Sloane who was standing nearby. He chased up the stairs after the distraught man.

"General!," yelled Wilkins, trying to get him to stop, "William!"

He finally caught up to his neighbor at the door outside of the bedchamber. He grabbed Tavington and began pulling him away as best he could.

"Will! Will! No! You can't," he pleaded. "You have to let them do their job. We would just be in the way. How would that help Melanie?"

About that time, they heard Mrs. Sloane greeting Dr. Manning at the door. Both men turned to see him ascending the stairway.

"Good evening," the doctor greeted the two officers. "I was called to come help with Mrs. Tavington's delivery. Mrs. Bronner chose not to take any chances since your wife had some problems with the pregnancy recently. Why don't you gentlemen sit down and I will send someone out with an update."

The physician then disappeared into the room. Jim then pulled a dazed and scared Tavington away from the door and down the hall. They both sat down in the second story sitting room.

Jim watched as General Tavington, sitting with his elbows on his knees, dropped his head into his hands, looking desperate and undone. "So many women and babies die during birth," a distraught William stated. "I don't want to have to bury my wife and child out there next to her parents."

James Wilkins pictured the graves of the Prescott's in the family cemetery not too far from the house. He closed his own eyes, hoping that Tavington's words would not come true.

"General, just as many women and children have lived through birth as well," Wilkins pointed out on a positive note. "Your mother and my mother did. Melanie's mother and my sister did, too."

"I know you're right," Will conceded. Then he heard Melanie scream and groan again.

William looked up at his Wilkins, a look of helplessness on his face. Wilkins was stunned, having never seen the officer afraid of anything before.

"I'd take her pain if I could," said William with a forlorn shake of his head.

"I would Bridget's, as well," agreed James.

Both men sighed. A moment of contemplative silence passed between the two, the sound only punctured by Mrs. Tavington's occasional groans of pain.

Jim Wilkins spoke up. "There's a reason why women have the children," he began. "I think it's because that inside, they have even more courage than men do. They let us invade and plunder them at our whims, then they bear our children from our seeds we leave behind. And they do it quite bravely."

"And Melanie is so happy to be having this child," William added.

"Well, of course," James replied. "They bear our children because they love us. And we adore and love them back even more for it!"

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Diedre pulled the wet cloths from Melanie's belly. She dipped them into the fresh,warm water, wrung them out, and soon laid them back across the expectant mother's abdomen. The midwife rubbed Mrs. Tavington's birth canal with soft butter as she gave directions to Mrs. Wilkins. "You may give her a couple of sips of the wine."

Bridget did as she was told, holding her friend's head up a bit in one hand, and tipping the wine glass in the other. Then she wiped Melanie's sweaty face and forehead with a cool rag.

Mrs. Wilkins sat back for a moment and sighed, glad that Melanie was in between contractions, which were coming rapidly now, lasting longer and were harder. She thought back to when she arrived this morning hours earlier. It had been a long day and her friend was in the last stages of labor, ready to deliver her child.

Doctor Manning stood by, watching the situation, glad that her labor, though difficult, had been normal so far. He gave Mrs. Wilkins a look that silently told her that it wouldn't be long now.

"Alright, Mrs. Tavington, time to push again," Mrs. Bronner instructed.

Bridget held Melanie as she pushed hard, groaning as she did. After she flopped back onto the bed, panting hard with tears running down her face. She looked up at Bridget, who looked down at her and squeezed her hand.

"It hurts so much," she cried. "I'm so tired."

"Not much longer now, Melanie," Bridget said with a smile. "Think of holding the baby."

"You're almost done, Mrs. Tavington," the midwife commented. "I can see the baby's head now."

Another contraction came and Melanie pushed again, holding her breath as she did. Mrs. Bronner looked up at the tired mother and encouraged her. "You're doing well. Give me another strong push."

Mrs. Tavington gave another hard push and soon felt her body ease as the baby slid out. The young woman again collapsed back onto the bed, trying to catch her breath.

"It's a boy," announced Mrs. Bronner.

A huge smile crossed Bridget's face as she looked down at her friend. Then she hugged Melanie, who was sobbing now.

"Oh William," she said weakly to herself, "we have a son."

The doctor took the baby and began to clean him up. He asked Diedre the maid to go inform the General.

In the upstairs sitting room, Diedre found her master had finally succumbed to exhaustion and was asleep in the chair. She smiled at Major Wilkins, whose tall frame was stretched across the sofa with his young son asleep on his chest. She moved quietly across the room to where William was dozing and gently shook him awake.

He looked up at her with a start. "Yes?"

"You have a son, General," she proclaimed.

"A boy!" he repeated, jumping to his feet. "How's my wife."

"Tired….but fine," she answered.

As she left the room, Tavington noticed Wilkins asleep on the couch. He smiled at his friend and fellow officer, with his infant son sleeping on him. Will decided not to wake the man, looking at the two of them quiet on the sofa. I have a son now, too, he thought with a smile.

Diedre returned to the room to continue helping. Melanie was laying back relaxing, relieved that the birth was over, waiting for the small contraction that would come that would help expel the afterbirth. Mrs. Bronner decided to help speed that process along.

"I'll help rid you of the placenta," she said. The woman moved to the side of the bed and began to massage Melanie's abdomen. As she pressed a little harder to help discharge the afterbirth, an odd look crossed her face.

The midwife moved back down to the foot of the bed and peered between Melanie's legs. She called for the doctor to have a look, as well. He handed the baby to Diedre, who put the newborn boy into a crib nearby.

After a few moments, the doctor spoke. "You're having twins, Mrs. Tavington. But this baby isn't in a favorable position for birth."

Melanie looked up at the doctor and midwife, clearly alarmed. It seemed that the twin, hidden behind it's brother all this time, was in a breech position as the doctor and midwife could see a pair of tiny buttocks in the birth canal. They explained to Mrs. Tavington that they thought the baby could be delivered that way as she was still very open after giving just giving birth to the first baby.

In a moment, another set of painful contractions came and Mrs. Tavington once again found herself bearing down, trying to push another tiny life from her body. But after a couple of pushes, the baby was lodged and wasn't moving.

"Mrs. Tavington, I'm going to try to turn the baby from the outside," she announced. "This will be a little uncomfortable."

Melanie groaned and grimaced, squeezing Bridget's hand hard as Mrs. Bronner pushed hard and prodded on her still swollen belly, trying to manipulate the baby into a better position. After a few moments of this, the doctor checked but still saw only the baby's tiny back end.

He gave a worried look to the midwife, then spoke to Melanie. "We're going to try something else," he said, as he pulled a cloth covered bite stick from his medical bag. As he spoke, he handed the stick to Bridget.

"Mrs. Bronner is going to have to try to turn the baby from the inside now," he informed. "She will have to reach up inside you and move the baby from there. I'm sorry, Mrs. Tavington, but it will be a bit painful."

Melanie shook her head in disbelief, weeping as she did. Then she bit down hard on the stick and Bridget held her tightly. The doctor also helped to hold her body down. The young wife thought she would pass out from the pain as she felt the woman moving the baby inside her.

Diedre once again left the room, needing more butter for the midwife to aid with the delivery. She stopped at the second story sitting room again.

Before she could even speak, Tavington was already asking questions. "How's my wife? When can I see her and my son?"

"General, she is still delivering," said Diedre. "You have twins."

"Twins?" he asked, his mouth dropping open.

"Yes sir," she said. "The birth of the second child has been a bit more difficult. It may be awhile before you can see your wife and children."

Will collapsed into his chair in disbelief. Twins. TWINS? He thought to himself. Diedre left him to his thoughts in the room, needing to collect fresh supplies and get back to help with the delivery.

In the bedchamber, Melanie gave a sigh of relief when the midwife withdrew her hand from her after trying to manipulate and move the baby internally. The girl lifted her head from the pillow and looked down between her legs, seeing the doctor and midwife both examining her with very troubled looks on their faces.

Mrs. Tavington grabbed at her friend, Bridget, crying hysterically. "What's happening? What's wrong? Is something wrong with the baby?"

Bridget did her best to keep her friend calm, trying to assure her that she was in good hand with the doctor and midwife. Indeed, Doctor Manning and Mrs. Bronner were very worried. The twin should have been born by now. They were worried that the baby would suffocate if not able to get through the birth canal. Then there would be the matter of the mother.

They knew that the baby had to come out quickly now for the skin tone of its little buttocks had turned bluish.

"Alright, I'm going to try a method I know of that will hopefully work," Doctor Manning said. He knew of Doctor Smellie, a Scottish Doctor who earlier in the century had developed a method for delivering breech babies.

The doctor positioned himself at the foot of the bed between Melanie's legs. "Please bear with me because this is going to be painful," he warned Melanie. With that, he reached inside Melanie with his hand, through her cervix and into her uterus, which made the poor girl scream.

Once inside her womb, his fingers quickly located the mouth of the child. He hooked his finger into the baby's mouth with the lower part of the baby laying on his forearm, and he gently pulled downward.

"Push, Mrs. Tavington," he directed. "That's it! The baby is coming out!"

With his other hand, he helped ease the child from Melanie's body. "It's all over, Mrs. Tavington. You have a daughter!"

Melanie smiled through her tears, then immediately felt light headed. She looked up at Bridget with a confused look on her face, then everything went black and she collapsed back onto the bed.

"She's fainted," Melanie said as she tried to rouse her friend.

The doctor was busy unwrapping the umbilical cord from around the tiny baby girl's neck. He handed the baby to Mrs. Bronner who noticed that the baby wasn't breathing. As Doctor Manning set about to delivering the afterbirth and stemming the bleeding, the midwife tried to get the baby breathing. She laid the infant on its stomach on the bed and massaged the child's back. Within a few seconds, the baby soon took a breath. She kept it up for a few more moments until the child's color had returned to normal, and the breathing seemed regular.

As the doctor and midwife cleaned up the baby girl and Melanie, Diedre once again left the room to inform the General, and the rest of the household staff, of the two newest members of the Tavington family.

This time as she entered the sitting room, Major Wilkins was awake now, sitting up and cradling his sleeping son, and Tavington was wide awake, pacing the room again. Both men looked frantically at the maid.

"The twin has been born," she announced. "You have a daughter, General."

"A daughter!," he exclaimed. "When can I see my wife and the babies?"

"Well, Mrs. Tavington had a hard time with the last baby," answered Diedre. "She fainted. The doctor is taking care of her now. He will speak to you in a little while."

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A little over an hour later, Melanie came to. She revived quietly, after the doctor and midwife had checked the unconscious girl over and pronouncing her fine, but exhausted and weak.

As Mrs. Tavington opened her eyes, she became aware of feeling a bit of pain still in her abdomen and between her legs. She turned her head and looked to the side of the bed. There she found her husband, dressed in his breeches and shirt only, his hair down and long, looking like a rogue. And though he looked tired, he smiled as he looked proudly at both his newborns. He was cradling the tiny twins: one in each arm.

Melanie smiled as her heart melted. She loved the sight of him holding their babies. He looked up and saw her awake, and locked eyes with her.

"You're awake," he greeted softly. "You fainted after she was delivered."

"I did?"

Will shook his head 'yes'. "How do you feel?" he asked.

His wife sighed. "Tired. Sore," she answered. "How are they?"

William looked at both his new children once again. "Perfect and healthy," he replied.

"I want to hold my babies," Melanie said, shifting herself painfully to sit up more.

William gave her one of the tightly wrapped bundles. She received it with tears in her eyes.

"Who's this?" she asked, looking down at the baby.

"That is our son," he answered.

Melanie began to cry, overjoyed that the babies were finally here. She couldn't believe the amount of love that she already felt for the tiny infant. The young mother looked on in wonder at her new son.

"He is so handsome," she commented as she touched his face. "Just as handsome as his father. My dear, all the women will swoon." All this said as she cooed and fawned over the child.

Will laughed, then spoke. "What do we call him?"

Melanie looked down at her son with eyes of love and smiled at him. "William," she replied. "William Prescott."

"William Prescott Tavington," the general said aloud. "That is a fine name for my fine boy!"

Mrs. Tavington looked over at her daughter, whom William still cradled protectively in his arms against his chest.

"And what is her name?" asked Melanie.

Both parents stared for a quiet moment at the baby girl, sleeping soundly against her father. Then Will spoke. "Mary."

More tears came to Melanie's eyes. "Mary….after my mother," she said, wiping her eyes.

"And her middle name?" the officer asked.

"Martha," answered Melanie.

William smiled at his pretty young wife. "After my mother."

General Tavington looked down as his baby girl and smiled. "Well, well, my little Mary Martha Tavington. No man will ever be good enough for papa's princess," he cooed to the baby. "Don't you worry. Daddy will shelter you away."

"Oh, really, William," Melanie chuckled, rolling her eyes at her husband.

"Daddy is going to keep all the libertines away from you."

"Like Colonel Tarleton and Major Hanger?" Melanie asked snidely.

"Yes! Exactly like them!," he answered with a laugh.

"William, could I hold her at least once before you send her to the convent?" asked Melanie jokingly.

"Certainly," Will replied, handing her the baby after she laid baby Will on the bed beside her.

Baby Mary began to cry as her father handed her to her mother. "Oh….see..," Tavington began. "She wants her papa back already."

"Oh, Will, she's probably hungry," Melanie said in a sensible voice. With that, Mrs. Tavington undid the top drawstring of her night gown with her free hand and pushed her sleeve and gown down. She put her baby girl to her breast and was amazed, smiling as the infant latched on to her nipple. William moved to sit next to Melanie on the bed.

He looked at his son sleeping quietly on the bed, then at Melanie holding their daughter, then at the baby girl sucking quietly at his wife's bosom. General Tavington smiled, still amazed that he had a little family now.

Melanie watched her daughter quietly as she nursed her. "Will, she's so beautiful!"

"Just like her mother," he replied, planting a soft kiss in Melanie's head, then on her cheek.

She looked up at the officer. "You make a handsome father, even more handsome holding our children." Melanie smiled prettily at him.

"And you are a ravishing mother," he murmured into her ear. Then he took her mouth with a slow and deep kiss.

When he was done kissing her, he whispered into her ear, "Thank you for our children."

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Author's note: Buchan's domestic medicine from the 18th Century helped greatly in educating me as to childbirth at that time. The laying of warm, wet clothes on the laboring mother's belly and gently rubbing the birth passage with soft butter or pomatum was done in a difficult labor.

Sometimes when twins are born, one will be turned head down and can be delivered vaginally with no problems, and sometimes the other twin will be turned breech, which today a C-section delivery is done. Back then, they tried no surgery if at all possible.

Dr. William Smellie (1697-1763) was a Scottish doctor called "the father of obstetrics" and helped to develop some early midwifery techniques. The Smellie method was used for years to deliver breech babies. The doctor or midwife would reach up into the mother and put two fingers into the baby's mouth as an anchor, and the baby's body would lay straddled on the forearm and with gentle and firm pulls and pushes from the mother, the baby could be lifted and eased out of the mother's body. I don't think I would want to go through that, but in a time when surgery usually ended in death, that (the Smellie method) was probably the "lesser of two evils" as far as methods go. And apparently in researching this, that despite the pain to the mother and some risk, apparently lots of breech babies were born using this method, saving the baby and mother's lives both. I understand from my research that this method is still in use today during natural, midwife births in which a suction method or forceps cannot be used.