Maternal death in fiction is a common theme encountered in literature, film, and other media.
Thedeath of a mother duringpregnancy,childbirth orimmediately afterwards is a tragic event. The chances of a child surviving such an extreme birth are compromised.[1] In literature, the death of a new mother is a powerful device: it removes one character and places the surviving child into an often hostile environment which has to be overcome.
InCao Xueqin's novelDream of the Red Chamber, Xiang Ling, the maid and concubine of Xue Pan, dies in childbirth, giving birth to her daughter Ning Xiner. However, this plot only appears in Gao E's continuation; the original author only demonstrates her fate is death in a poem.
In theGrimm Brothers'Snow White, Snow White's mother died in childbirth. Soon afterwards, her father marrieda new wife who was beautiful, but very vain, and possessed supernatural powers.
InJane Austen'sNorthanger Abbey, Austen ridicules the convention of heroines having mothers who die in childbirth, by beginning the novel: "No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be a heroine. Her situation in life, the character of her father and mother... were all equally against her... Her mother was a woman of useful plain sense, with a good temper, and, what is more remarkable, with a good constitution. She had three sons before Catherine was born; and instead of dying in bringing the latter into the world, as anybody might expect, she still lived on."
InElizabeth Gaskell'sMary Barton, when the heroine is a young girl, her mother dies in childbirth along with the baby, after being deeply affected by the grief of her sister Esther's disappearance, leaving Mary to be brought up by her father John.
Fanny Robin in Thomas Hardy'sFar From the Madding Crowd dies in childbirth along with the child, who was fathered by Frank Troy, Bathsheba's husband.
InHenry James'Washington Square, Catherine Sloper's mother dies shortly after her birth, and the death of his beautiful and talented wife permanently alters Dr. Sloper and causes him to be cold and unfeeling towards Catherine.
Lucetta Farfrae, formerly Lucette Le Sueur, in Thomas Hardy'sThe Mayor of Casterbridge has a miscarriage and dies, following a seizure induced by the public revelation of her love affair with Michael Henchard.
In the novellaRené byFrançois-René de Chateaubriand, the eponymous protagonist's mother dies giving birth to René. This contributes to René's difficult relationship with his estranged father and intense friendship with his sister, and also begins his 'mal du siècle' melancholy which is considered to have defined FrenchRomanticism.
InBarry Hughart's novelThe Bridge of Birds,Li Kao's mother dies immediately after giving birth to him. She lives only long enough to ask forKaoliang wine, which is misinterpreted by those in attendance as naming the child Li Kao.
In theHarry Potter saga,Merope Gaunt-Riddle, the mother of the series' chief antagonist,Lord Voldemort, dies after giving birth to him, living just long enough to name him Tom Marvolo Riddle.
InGregory Maguire's novelWicked, Melena dies giving birth to her third child, Shell.
InP.D. James' mystery novels, her central detective,Adam Dalgliesh, loses his wife and child in childbirth.
InRevolutionary Road, the female protagonist dies after inducing a miscarriage.
In theStar Wars novelDarth Bane: Path of Destruction, Darth Bane's unnamed mother died giving birth to him, and his father Hurst abused him after blaming him for her death.
In theRedwall bookOutcast of Redwall, a ferret named Bluefen dies giving birth to her son Veil Sixclaw, while her husband Swartt Sixclaw left him for dead.
InLao She's novelRickshaw Boy, Tiger girl, the wife of the main character Xiangzi, dies while giving birth, and her child died too.
In the final book ofLemony Snicket'sA Series of Unfortunate Events book series, the character Kit Snicket dies after giving birth to her daughter, the father of whom is never revealed.
InGeorge R. R. Martin's novelFire and Blood, multiple members of the royal family by birth and marriage die in childbirth over successive generations. These include Queen Alyssa Velaryon, mother to King Jaehaerys I, whose eighth and last child is cut alive from her body; Princess Daella Targaryen, eighth child of Jaehaerys I, who dies after giving birth to her only child; and Queen Aemma Arryn, daughter of Daella, who dies after giving birth to her final child by King Viserys I, Prince Baelon Targaryen, who survives his mother by only one day.
InSatyajit Ray'sBengali film,Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (1959), Apu's wife Aparna dies during childbirth, after which Apu falls into despair and abandons their child Kajal. Years later, Apu eventually acknowledges Kajal as his son and takes responsibility for his upbringing. It is based on the 1932 Bengali novelAparajito.
InPurana Mandir, a family line of women dies from childbirth across two centuries.
In the motion pictureThe Mask of Zorro (1998), the antagonist Don Rafael Montero, enemy ofZorro, lied that Esperanza de la Vega died in childbirth, but Esperanza de la Vega was actually gunned down instead. Then Montero raised her daughter Elena.
In the science fiction filmContact (1997), a woman died giving birth to the film's protagonist Eleanor Ann "Ellie" Arroway, portrayed by actressJodie Foster. Arroway's father died when she was nine years old.
In the Canadian filmThe Red Violin (1998), Anna Bussotti dies after a stillbirth in the opening act, leading to the creation of the Red Violin as a tribute.
In the horror filmThe Seventh Sign (1988),Demi Moore's character dies as a result of giving birth to her child. She offers her soul because "she finds out that the prophecies lead up to the birth of her child who may not survive because there will be no more souls left for the newborns unless someone offers their own."
In the coming-of-age filmMy Girl (1991), Vada Sultenfuss' mother died a few days after giving birth to her.
InFantaghirò, the queen dies after giving birth to the title character of the film series.
In Disney's 1994 version ofThe Jungle Book,Mowgli's mother is said to have died giving birth to him, and Mowgli's father Nathoo is later killed byShere Khan.
In the supernatural horror filmThe Craft (1996), Sarah Bailey's mother died while giving birth to her.
In the Chinese movieTo Live (1994), Fengxia, the daughter of the main character Fugui, died while giving birth to her son.
InCity Slickers (1994), a severely weak cow gave birth to a calf that Mitch would claim ownership of and name Norman, and Curly executed her afterwards to put her out of her misery.
In the filmPan's Labyrinth (2006), Ofelia's mother, Carmen, dies during the birth of her and Captain Vidal's son.
In the filmBabylon A.D. (2008), Aurora died after giving birth to twins that Hugo Toorop ended up taking care of. Aurora was "designed to breed", not to live, so her death after childbirth was preprogrammed.
In a scene that is only present in the theatrical cut but was removed from the director's cut, the twins are shown to resemble Aurora and Toorop.
In the filmSherlock Holmes (2009), Lord Henery Blackwood, the main antagonist's mother, died giving birth to him.
In the filmKick-Ass (2010),Mindy McCready's mother committed suicide by overdose while pregnant, but the doctors managed to keep her alive long enough for Mindy to be born; in theoriginal comic, this is presented as a false backstory invented by Mindy's father to motivate her.
In the filmSpace Between Us (2017), Gardner Eliot, the main protagonist's mother, died during childbirth shortly after landing on Mars.
In the filmBlood Quantum, Joseph's pregnant girlfriend Charlie is bitten by a zombie. After giving birth, she asks Joseph to kill her before she turns into a zombie.
In the animated filmNahuel and the Magic Book (2020), Consuelo, the protagonist's mother, died by giving birth to the protagonist, Nahuel, in the fishing boat during the middle of a storm with her husband who was headed to the hospital.
In the manga and anime seriesOne Piece, Ace's mother Portgas D. Rouge died from exhaustion after giving birth to Ace, due to bearing him for 20 months.
In the 1980smanga andanime seriesKimagure Orange Road, Kyosuke's mother Akemi died shortly after giving birth to his twin sisters Manami and Kurumi.
In the 1989 mangaBerserk,Guts was born from the corpse of his lynched mother underneath a hanging tree, where he was left to die alone in a mire of blood and afterbirth.
InSNK'sKing of Fighters video game series, the Yagami bloodline is cursed with maternal death. The mothers of the Yagami clan heirs are cursed to die giving birth to the clan heirs.
In the manga andanime seriesNaruto,Gaara's mother Karura dies giving birth to him.
In the 1998 video gameMetal Gear Solid,Psycho Mantis' mother died in childbirth, prompting his father to blame him for her death.
InKey's 2004visual novelClannad, Nagisa Furukawa dies of a constant fever while giving birth to Ushio, after which the father Tomoya Okazaki falls into depression and gives his daughter away to Nagisa's parents. Five years later, Tomoya eventually takes responsibility for Ushio's upbringing, but the latter catches her mother's fever and dies as well. However, time is altered to where Nagisa survives giving birth and lives a happier life with her husband and daughter. It was later adapted intoa film andanime series.
In the film adaptation, Nagisa does not come back to life.
In the video gameJade Empire, Sky's wife dies giving birth to their daughter, Pinmei, years before he meets the player.
In thewebcomic,Kevin and Kell, Wanda Woolstone dies giving birth to Corrie Dewclaw. Her death causes the otherwise very skilled Ralph Dewclaw, Corrie's father, to lose the will to hunt, and causes him to mistakenly believe that predator-prey relationships inevitably end tragically.
In the gameFallout 3, the player's mother dies giving birth to him/her.
In this animeKiddy Girl-and, Eclipse was Q-Feuille's mother, who died giving birth to her.
In the 2017 video gameWhat Remains of Edith Finch, the titular character Edith Finch dies from giving birth to Christopher.
In the light novel seriesHigh School DxD, Gasper Vladi's human mother died shortly after giving birth to Gasper, who was born as a mass of darkness which accidentally cursed his mother and several servants to death.
In the anime and mangaYu-Gi-Oh!,Marik Ishtar's mother died after giving birth to him.
In the comic book seriesThe Boys,Billy Butcher's wife Becky Saunders was raped byBlack Noir dressed as theHomelander, and she eventually died giving birth to his son.
In the manga and anime seriesFairy Tail, Rita died giving birth to Makarov Dreyar.
In the MTV seriesTeen Wolf, it is revealed that Jackson Whittemore's birth parents, Gordon and Margret Miller, died in a car crash on June 14, 1995, and the doctors kept Margret on life support long enough to deliver Jackson via emergency c-section.
In an episode ofHouse, a woman 26 weeks pregnant dies after doctors perform an emergencyc-section. Another one dies from eclampsia following delivery.
In the television seriesLost, the characterBen Linus' mother died while giving birth to him and his father blames him for it.
In the series oneER episode "Loves Labours Lost",Mark Greene oversees a patient who dies in childbirth due topre-eclampsia. Mark is subsequently sued for negligence by her partner.
InEmpresses in the Palace, there are two characters who die after childbirth. Empress Chunyuan dies after giving birth to a stillborn son, but she only appeared in the dialogues of the Emperor's memories. Shen Meizhuang, also known as Consort Hui, dies after giving birth to her daughter Princess Jinghe as well.
InMad Men, the protagonistDon Draper's mother died while giving birth to him.
InRugrats, Melinda Finster is implied to have died of an unknown illness soon after giving birth to her son Chuckie, as it was mentioned in "Mother's Day" that she was hospitalized and kept a journal, the final entry of which she had written a poem.
The filmKhumba features Lungisa, who died the next day from an illness after giving birth to Khumba.
InSteven Universe,Steven's mother Rose Quartz died giving birth to him. Her husband Greg Universe, Steven's father, stated that she "gave up her physical form to bring Steven into the world". It is later elaborated that Rose and her son could not exist at the same time, with Steven inheriting her gemstone and abilities.
InSofia the First, Princess Amber and Prince James' mother dies after giving birth to them.
In the Annecy-nominated filmNahuel and the Magic Book (2020), Consuelo, the protagonist's mother, dies after giving birth of Nahuel in a fishing boat during the middle of a storm with her husband, who was heading to the hospital.
