When James Young Simpson (1811–1870) began using
chloroform to ease the pain of childbirth in 1847, he set off
a raging debate in the medical and theological communities.
A number of physicians thought that pain was necessary for
a successful childbirth, that it was “a most desirable, salutary,
and conservative manifestation of the life force” that
encouraged the mother to keep pushing. On the other hand,
religious conservatives believed that God wanted women to
suffer during childbirth, citing the passage in Genesis 3:16
that describes God’s punishment of Eve for her part in the
Fall: “In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.” Something
of a Bible expert himself, Simpson countered with the assertion
that the word “sorrow” was a poor translation; “toil”
was more accurate. Simpson even claimed that God himself
was the first obstetric anesthesiologist, having caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep before removing
his rib to “give birth” to Eve. Simpson finally won out by gaining a formidable ally—Queen Victoria.
After chloroform was used successfully during the royal birth of Prince Leopold, the Biblical injunction
was forgotten.