People annoyed after learning grim theory about why women give birth lying on their backs

A grim theory about why women give birth lying on their backs has left people very riled up – although not all is quite as it seems.

If you’ve ever watched a birth scene on TV, the likelihood is that the mum-to-be was on her back as she pushed.

Traditionally, however, it’s believed many women used to give birth standing up or sat in ‘birthing chairs’, allowing gravity to give a bit of a helping hand.

Lying on your back, meanwhile, can sometimes restrict movement, with many believing this method can end up making an already painful situation even more difficult.

Over the years, some have claimed that it was actually down to one bloke that the way we gave birth changed, with lying down horizontally only becoming the perceived standard from the 1700s.

The theory about Louis XIV and giving birth on your back

We often think of women being on their backs when they are in labour (Halfpoint Images/Getty Images)

French king Louis XIV was said to be obsessed with the science behind birth and how women's bodies prepared for and managed to bring a child into the world.

According to the American Journal of Public Health by Lauren Dundes, the King was so keen to understand and study it further that he insisted that his wives and mistresses gave birth while lying down so he could see it better.

He got plenty of viewings too as he was father to 22 children during his 76 year lifetime, and unknowingly he started the trend for all women to give birth on their backs.

British academic and author Hannah Fry recently spoke out about the historic reason behind giving birth on your back, taking to Instagram to clarify why it happens.

The post was inundated with people adding that they found other positions much more comfortable when they went through labour.

Is Louis XIV to blame for people giving birth on their backs (Getty Stock Image)

One person wrote: "After 34 hours of labor, and when the doctor left the room, the nurse told me to get on my hands and knees. I was able to give birth shortly there after."

Another person also wrote: "As a man, and son of an obstetrician, I am so embarrassed that men have made so many fundamentally wrong decisions for women."

Is Louis XIV really the reason people give birth on their backs?

However, Snopes has explained that, while there is some truth to the story, it’s not really the full picture – labelling the rumour as ‘mostly false’.

“Louis is believed to have enjoyed watching women give birth and was likely present in the room when his wife gave birth,” the site said.

“However, it was the famed 17th-century French doctor François Mariceau who is generally credited with the practice of having women lie flat on their backs during birth.”

As for the specific part that’s false, Snopes added: “Louis did not require that women give birth lying flat on their back, nor did he inspire the practice.”

Mariceau, who was Louis XIV's doctor, thought that giving birth lying down was better for women's health. He also called pregnancy a 'tumour of the belly' though.

Historian Greg Jenner also argued that Louis XIV didn't just have a weird interest in watching births, but needed to see it happen out of fear that 'a baby could be swapped in via the bedpan and you will not have the integrity of the French state'.