Leaving aside US and Western Europe, most of the world did not have OB/GYN doctors or any kind of modern surgical procedures 50 or more years ago. Even the slightest problem during child birth puts either the mother or the baby in danger.
Look at some of the common problems, coming out feet first, umbilical cord wrapped around neck, not coming out when the time is right, getting stuck, lack of oxygen during child birth, etc . And then after the baby is out, the chances of contracting a fatal or disfiguring illness are very high for the baby. According to my grandmother, most midwives had no idea how to fix these problems. Most were just interested in collecting the money, and sometimes saving the baby’s life if it was a male.
My grandmother (dad’s mother) died during child birth, and I know of several other family members from that era who died during or right after child birth. Seems like back then this was normal, and the culture was ready to accept and work around that. Second and third marriages were the norm, and it appears that people were just happily willing to give away their daughters to widowed men with 3-4 children. Hence the high number of “Sonteli Maa” stories coming from that time.
They did have c-section back in the day, but obviously without anesthesia or anyway to avoid infections the mortality rates were really high.
I am not saying women don’t die now even with doctors present. I had a classmate from high school who died during child birth recently. Actually I am not sure if she died during child birth or shortly after, but it was some how related. But even hearing about it is not common.
This thread has no question, I am just thinking out loud. This thread is definetly not the place to reminiscent about the “Good ol days”. The good old days were actually very horrible.