Vicky, Wilhelm, and the bungled birth

Queen Victoria to the Princess Royal

Windsor Castle, January 29, 1859

God be praised for all his mercies, and for bringing you safely through this awful time!  Our joy, our gratitude knows no bounds.

My precious darling, you suffered much more than I ever did – and how I wish I could have lightened them for you!  Poor dear Fritz – how he will have suffered for you!  I think and feel much for him; the dear little boy if I could but see him for one minute, give you one kiss.  It is hard, very hard.  But we are so happy, so grateful!  And people here are all in ecstasies – such pleasure, such delight – as if it was their own prince and so it is too!  All the children so delighted!  You will and must feel so thankful all is over!  But don’t be alarmed for the future, it never can be so bad again!  Your’s and baby’s healths were drunk on Thursday evening and the Sydneys were here! 

We are starting for Wellington College and so I must stop.  God bless and protect you.

Dear Papa is so happy too.

*********

(Vicky and newborn Wilhelm, both exhausted after a nightmarish childbirth.  Photo credit: gogmsite.net)

The event described above was the start of a long, incredibly complicated relationship between Wilhelm and his parents – especially Vicky.  It was the birth of Wilhelm, the eldest child of Vicky and Fritz, the start of a new generation of heirs presumptive to the Prussian throne.  No one could have foretold – or would have wanted to face the fact that Wilhelm would be the last.

Seventeen-year-old new bride Vicky became pregnant about three months after her wedding.  Victoria had been dismayed when she was told of Vicky’s pregnancy in May 1858.  While Vicky was delighted to be pregnant, Victoria felt it would have been better had the couple had at least a year together before trying for a baby.  (Birth control and knowledge of it being what it was during that time, it’s a wonder how Victoria believed Vicky and Fritz would avoid it.)  Victoria herself had found that becoming pregnant so soon after her own wedding meant less time with her beloved Albert, and she did not want the same to happen to Vicky. 

Despite her misgivings about the pregnancy, Victoria advised her daughter on such things as the care of her teeth and preservation of her modesty during childbirth.  She fretted that she could not be with Vicky for the actual event, as she needed to be in London for the opening of Parliament (a task which she’d later avoid.)  Victoria also commended her daughter on saying nothing of the pregnancy to Affie who, when visiting Vicky, commented on her visible larger stomach.  It was Victoria’s distaste with most of the more intimate matters of childbirth that put Vicky at a distinct disadvantage going into the actual event.  Vicky didn’t exactly receive any prenatal care during her pregnancy – out of modesty, she spoke of her symptoms to Fritz, who then relayed them to Dr. Wegner, the court physician. 

Vicky had had what were likely Braxton-Hicks contractions during the days leading up to January 27.  Her labor began in earnest during the night the day before.  Vicky spent most of the night and early morning hours alternately walking and lying on a couch.  By 9:00 AM on the morning of January 27, Vicky was in bed in believed to be ready to delivery.  But the baby wasn’t coming, and Vicky was screaming out in pain.

In lieu of being there herself, Victoria sent to Berlin her midwife, Mrs. Innocent, her obstetrician, Dr. Clark, and chloroform to aid in Vicky’s delivery.  However, the German royal family had their own team of doctors to direct the delivery – Dr. Wegner, and Dr. Eduard Martin, the head of obstetrics at the University of Berlin.  During an examination of the laboring Vicky, Dr. Wegner guessed (although not through physical examination) that the baby was not in the correct position.  Dr. Martin had been sent a note the night before alerting him of the princess’s labor, but a concern Dr. Wegner sent a footman to find Dr. Martin when Vicky wasn’t making any progress. 

Dr. Martin arrived by Vicky’s bedside at around 10:30 AM.  Vicky was screaming in pain while Fritz found valiantly to keep her from hurting herself as she thrashed out.  In between painful contractions, Vicky cried out for forgiveness for her making such a scene.  Dr. Martin quickly determined that the baby was breech and would not likely be able to come out without assistance.  Fearing the worst, obituaries were quickly written up for Vicky and her unborn child.

Dr. Martin believed the baby was alive and had the expertise needed to deliver him with (hopefully) a happy result.  He gave Vicky ergot to stimulate her uterus; as the contractions would be stronger and more painful (yet hopefully productive), Dr. Martin instructed Dr. Clark to give Vicky chloroform to quiet and give the poor woman a break. 

After a long and painful scream, she calmed down and Dr. Martin set about manually turning Wilhelm.  By mid-afternoon, the doctor and pulled the baby out from the waist down.  He noticed that the baby’s umbilical cord was still pulsating, although at a slower and weakened rate.  This indicated that sufficient oxygen was not reaching Wilhelm, and Dr. Martin had only a very short time before the baby would be severely disabled or dead.

The doctor had a particularly difficult time with Wilhelm’s arms, both of which were far above and behind his head.  Dr. Martin had to manipulate the left arm in a rather gruesome way to get it out of the birth canal and free the baby’s head.  By the time the baby was finally delivered at around 3:00 PM, he was neither crying nor moving.  One of the German midwives, Miss Stahl, rubbed and gently slapped the baby (despite the shock at such a treatment for a royal infant!) until he let out a lethargic cry.  The birth was over, and Vicky and Wilhelm were lucky to be alive.

Although Vicky had produced the much-desired heir for Prussia, the birth had left said heir deformed.   A few days after his birth, Mrs. Innocent noticed that Wilhelm did not move his left arm.  It is now believed that nerve damage on Wilhelm’s arm as a result of his being pulled out from Vicky’s body resulted in his injury.  A mild form of cerebral palsy resulting from oxygen deprivation has also been suggested; many cases of cerebral palsy center stem from problematic births.  Wilhelm had to endure countless painful exercises, medical devices, and special training to encourage use of his left arm - with no real improvement. 

To compensate, Wilhelm and his family did their best to hide the disability, knowing that at that time a leader with such an affliction would not be looked upon as suitable.  He relied on specially placed pockets in his coats, holding his left hand with his right, placing his arm behind his back, or setting his left hand on the handle of an overturned sword to maintain the appearance of a typical arm and hand.  To my knowledge, no photos exist that clearly show the damage that had been done to Wilhelm’s arm. 

One unique aspect of this letter is Victoria’s empathy for Vicky and what she had gone through.  Although it is understandable that any parent would be so concerned for a daughter who had had endured such an ordeal, Victoria tended to believe that no one else’s experiences ever topped her own.  Had Vicky gone through such a problematic childbirth shortly after Albert’s death, her mother may have responded quite differently.  When Vicky grieved over the loss of her toddler son Sigismund to meningitis in 1866, Victoria had less patience with her daughter, claiming that the loss of a child could not compare to the loss of a spouse.

It is uncertain whether or not Victoria knew that Vicky had been given only a very small amount of chloroform toward the end of the birth; if she knew, it’s surprising she didn’t place the blame of Vicky’s suffering on the lack of anesthesia.  Regardless of what Victoria knew use of anesthesia earlier in the labor may have saved Vicky some pain and shortened her recovery time. It is also possible that had Wilhelm been extracted more quickly, he may not have suffered some of the mental and personality issues that were evident in his later life.  Whether or not this affected Wilhelm’s personality and behavior in later life is unknown, but it is a curious detail. 

Dr. Martin does not seem to have been given the credit he was due for saving Vicky’s and Wilhelm’s lives.  Vicky was more or less delirious during the final stages of childbirth and in the following days; in the confusion, she respected Dr. Wegner’s choice not to physically examine her.  Feeling violated, she blamed Dr. Martin for his “rough” treatment and for Wilhelm’s injured arm. Oddly, no one thought to inform her that Dr. Martin’s intervention had made the outcome a happy one. 

Little did Vicky know that like his birth, life with Wilhelm would always be a very wild ride.