Today, JoAnn Spears concludes her fascinating observations on Queen Anne's obstetrical history. I know that I sure learned a lot. You can find the previous installments of this series by following the links: Part I, Part II, and Part III.
Thank you JoAnn for such a wonderful look into this woman's life.
Part Four: Was Diabetes the Cause?
Diabetes may be the most likely culprit in Queen
Anne’s story. Her first three pregnancies went to term, and resulted in two
healthy children. Statistically and fertilely, Anne, at that point, was par for
the 17th century reproductive course. From there, though, things
went terribly wrong.
The beginning of this downhill descent, 1687-88, coincided with the death of two of Anne’s daughters from smallpox. It also coincided with her father’s ascent to the throne and his loss of it during the Glorious Revolution. The familial loyalties and betrayals involved in this were deep and complex, and Anne was not a deep or a complex person. The compound stress must have been enormous. She was eating, and probably drinking, heavily. Might Anne have developed diabetes around the time of, or during, her 4th or 5th pregnancy? Anne’s lifestyle was characterized by overindulgence. She was not very active; her preferred recreation was playing cards. She would certainly be at greater risk than most for developing diabetes during a pregnancy, and unconsciously fueling the diabetic trajectory with her personal habits.
Uncontrolled diabetes is associated with a host of poor
fetal and neonatal outcomes. Unusually low or high birth weight, premature
birth, cardiac or skeletal anomalies, neurological problems, cerebral palsy,
lung immaturity with RDS (respiratory distress syndrome), and even intrauterine
death are some of the sad set of possibilities that Anne may have run the gamut
of. Unfortunately, medical descriptions of the babies Anne lost or miscarried
are sadly lacking.
Diabetes is a progressive condition. Anne became
increasingly obese and debilitated as she aged, bringing to mind her distant
relative Henry VIII. Both Henry and Anne had pains in their lower extremities that
prevented them from moving about well. This may have been peripheral neuropathy
associated with diabetes in both of their cases. Anne and Henry also had
chronic, non-healing leg ulcers, another diabetes symptom, in common.
As his desperate attempts to father sons were ended
by his declining physical condition, the morbidly obese Henry VIII had lifts
and other machinery devised to move his unwieldy body around. It’s said that
Queen Anne had this machinery refitted for her own use as her own health began
to fail. If it’s true, it’s an ironic footnote to the two saddest stories of
infertility in English history.
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Great series, ladies. Amazing that the human race has survived! I think it's really important to know how far we've come, especially if we're going to write about it!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Becky