The characterisation of medieval childbirth as profoundly dangerous is both long-standing and poorly supported by quantitative data. This article, based on a database tracking the reproductive lives of 102 late medieval aristocratic Englishwomen, allows not only for an evaluation of this trope but also an analysis of risk factors, including maternal youth and short birth intervals. Supplemented with evidence from medieval medical tracts and osteoarchaeological data related to pubertal development and nutrition, this study demonstrates that reproduction was hardly the main driver of mortality among elite women.

中文翻译：

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重新考虑中世纪英格兰的孕产妇死亡率：英国贵族妇女，c。1236–1503

将中世纪分娩描述为极其危险的说法是长期存在的，并且缺乏定量数据的支持。这篇文章基于一个追踪 102 名中世纪晚期英国贵族女性生育生活的数据库，不仅可以评估这一比喻，还可以分析风险因素，包括年轻母亲和生育间隔短。辅以中世纪医学文献和与青春期发育和营养相关的骨考古学数据的证据，这项研究表明，生育几乎不是精英女性死亡的主要驱动因素。