Baron Antoine Dubois and the difficult childbirth of Napoleon I’s second wife the Empress Marie Louise on 20 March 1811

Abstract

Background

History has paid little attention to the childbirth of Marie Louise, second wife to the Emperor Napoleon I. Most historians state that the obstetrician Antoine Dubois needed to use his forceps during a difficult breech delivery. As practicing obstetricians we aimed to reconstruct the likely course of events using a forensic approach.

Methods

We have consulted historical documents and key witness accounts as primary sources. We have followed the clinical guidance of the 1807 edition of ‘l’Art des Accouchemens’. We have tested a new hypothesis of the possible course of the childbirth through a simulation using the Assisted Vaginal Birth Module PROMPT Flex CDE® as an obstetrical model and an authentic Levret forceps.

Discussion

A transverse lie with hip presentation is the most plausible diagnosis of the foetal malposition that complicated the delivery of Marie Louise by Antoine Dubois. The long duration of the delivery of the entrapped foetal head and the insistence on the presence of his colleague Corvisart by Antoine Dubois can be explained through our hypothesis that the occiput of the entrapped foetal head was very likely in a transverse position. The seemingly impossible application of a forceps in this position, had already been described in the nineteenth century both in France and outside.

Conclusion

Our simulation confirmed the practicability of the application of the forceps as assumed by our hypothesis. Definitive proof that this scenario actually happened, cannot be given because there are no written first-hand accounts by Dubois on the delivery.

Keywords:

• Napoleon
• delivery
• Antoine Dubois
• malposition
• forceps

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability Statement

The thesis of Antoine Dupic can be consulted at the website of the Wellcome Collection. Antoine Dubois, chirurgien et accoucheur/[Antoine Dupic]. | Wellcome Collection. The fourth edition of the handbook ‘L’art des Accouchemens’ by Jean-Louis Baudelocque dated 1807 can be consulted at the website of Université Paris Cité. Résultats de recherche—Medica—BIU Santé, Paris (parisdescartes.fr).