I have so much respect for our ancestors for being able to go through such painful things before modern medicine. I don't know if you've heard of Fanny Burney she was an 18th century author i've been reading a book about her it's her journals and letters, I just got to the point where she talks about being diagnosed with breast cancer and her mastectomy. She was the first recorded woman to have it done before anesthesia was invented. It's mind blowing that people were able to live through such things and cope don't think there's anyone now a days who could handle it we're so used to everything being pain free. Good job on the vids Claire ❤️

I can only imagine how stuffy it would have been in the room in Summer! Anne must have been pleased that she didn’t have to spend 4-6 weeks in confinement. Must have been stifling and gloomy in the room, Anne and her companions must have been wishing they could get outside. Thanks for the in-depth description of the chamber and how it was decorated. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s video will bring! And I hope you’ve been able to keep cool in the hot weather over there 😁❤️

I have read so many books where women gave birth in such stifling conditions and with the style of the period it sounds miserable even for a couple weeks. Thank you, Claire!

I've always thought she went into confinement late so as to not be away from court for too long. She knew how much her presence held sway with Henry.

Very interesting to hear about Anne's confinement. I'm feeling a little claustrophobic!

Thank you Claire, that was so informative. Again I have been given a view into a room which has long since disappeared. You bring history to life for us. I am glad that Anne's confinement was fairly brief, as I suspect that she would have hated being cooped up.

So hard to grasp that things turned out as they did for Anne.

Poor Anne...poor anyone to be shut up like that in a room to have a baby...the trappings of the room sound rich & luxurious...but imagine just being in one room..heavily pregnant for weeks before the birth..with just one window...it sounds like a blue cocoon!.! It's sweltering today..I hope it wasn't this warm & stuffy for Anne & her ladies....thankyou Claire as always for this great video😁

The poor lady, it must have been quite an ordeal, it's hot tonight and I've got the window open!

I was lucky enough to return from a UK holiday recently and I was able to include Hampton Court and Hever Castle on my itinerary. I enjoyed these locations even more since becoming a subscriber to your channel, and it was incredible to be able to finally put a visual reality to my mental understanding of at least part of my Tudor obsession. Thanks for your insights!

There was an ad for “Sandals Luxury Resort” offering a “honeymoon special” sorta interesting ad to have to see before watching a video about Anne Boleyn. Hardly a happy marriage. The “confinement” was a shocking thing IMO. It was almost like imprisonment. No wonder they were so ill and dying etc. if I had to spend the final weeks of my pregnancy (Speaking hypothetically ... I am a man) in a crowded, hyper upholstered room , staring at baroque patterned bed hangings, totally bizarre and unhappy , how did that practice develop?

I am so glad I found your channel! I find all the daily information so enlightening. It gives so more depth to what I already know. Thank you!

I presume Anne and Henry wanted to delay the taking of her chamber for as long as possible, to avoid emphasising that she was already pregnant when Henry married her.

One of your best videos today! Thank you!

Could not wait today, your posts are usually my bedtime treat! Thanks Clair xo

just got your book , the fall of anne boleyn a countdown, and IM LOVING IT, amazing book

So interesting Claire ❤thank you!

Thanks Claire, love your videos as always

My daughter was born on the 7th September 1999, one of her middle names is Elizabeth as it's a family name but after Elizabeth the first too, I'm a massive Tudor buff. She was my first born also. Luckily my husband didn't kill me but he did get rid of me years later in divorce.

I love your videos, love your voice. Keep it up.

Hi Claire. Have you done any research on the possibility of Henry having Kell positive Blood, causing losses of babies after first pregnancy, and possibly McClouds syndrome, which may have caused his awful behaviour as he aged?

🇭🇲🦘 Wonderful video explaining Queen Anne Boleyn taking her chamber (with her ladies) in 1533 prior to what would be Elizabeth's birth. Most interesting! "Thank you" Claire 💓👑👍

Thank you ❣️

We should remember that such extreme behavior was limited to those who could afford it. I imagine there were many, many women who thought, "Two or three months of doing nothing? I could manage that!" It is true that the stuffiness of the rooms must have been terrible. Perhaps Anne said she expected the child to be born a month or so later so she wouldn't have to be in the Margaret-Beaufort-mandated isolation so long!

I was pregnant myself during August, living in Florida, oh heavens, I can only imagine poor Anne, in a stuffy room, wearing all the heavy clothes etc. such a interesting video, thanks lady clarie, always mistreating to see every day sort of things such as what the birthing practices were, thanks again for taking time out to share🇬🇧🥰🇬🇧🥰🇬🇧🥰

Thank you for letting me know, Claire. I trust your judgement and authority in all things Tudor. 👍🏻. X

Another fascinating video. Thanks, Claire! "Taking to her chamber" sounds stifling. The bells tolling seemed to confirm that. 😉 I ordered your book and it arrived today so I can follow along each day.

I was just watching the British Museum channel season 2. It is about Elizabeth the first and a couple of miniatures, a gold ring with carving of the Queen in profile. White for the face and black brown for the onyx background. It's that full lower lip that draws my attention as it looks like It's from the drawing of Anne Boleyn by Hans Holbien the younger. To my eyes Elizabeth has her mother's mouth!

I have always wondered if these period of taking to the chamber may have caused some of the sicknesses for mother and baby after she gave birth, because just imagining all the stale air in those rooms and also I would imagine after being in there with a ton of people around and not being able to open windows could have trapped in bacteria or the darkness and maybe even damp air could have worsened these types of bacteria because they like dark and damp and imagine them all sweating in there. Ewww just unimaginable, and then to not know about hygiene like now. So they touch everything no soap with antibacterial properties and then touching momma's to deliver the babies. Did they ever notice that infant mortality rates or mother's mortality rates change after they stopped this practice? Or did any doctors of that time notice anything like this veing the cause of sickness or disease or even death in those times, or was this the norm in all of Europe at the time? I know that's a lot of questions to answer, but I can just imagine that the confinement may have been worse on baby and mom instead of doing them good. I can understand doing this if only a few people were coming in and out, but since this was a social occasion and the queen being the queen you could just imagine how many people wanted to see or be a part of the royal birth in some way shape or form. Heck I would have even liked to see what they did then, even knowing what we know now. It's just all so interesting!! I love Tudor history, well all history, but Tudor history is the best! Lol! Thank you Claire for always sharing something interesting with us.

Carpets, tapestries, walls lined in arras cloth. What an unsanitary room. Imagine common women giving birth with next to nothing; it is no wonder so many babies didn't live, so many women died in childbirth. Amazing how things change but stay the same. Thank you, Claire, this amazing upload.

Thank you.

Very interesting!

It is possible that she didn’t enter her chamber early. If traditionally this took place 4-6 before the due date then perhaps she entered at the correct time? I don’t know what people in the Tudor period considered to be the “due date” but now, we consider the due date to be 40 weeks gestation. So, if Anne entered her chamber 4 weeks before the due date that would have been at 36 weeks. However, only 5% of babies are actually born on their due date. Nowadays we know that “full term” in a pregnancy is considered to be anywhere between 37 and 42 weeks gestation, with the due date being given to women as the date they are 40 weeks and 0 days gestation. When Anne gave birth on September 7th, she may have been “full term” at 37weeks, having entered her chamber within the traditional 4 weeks prior to the due date. Kind of depends on how the Tudors calculated their due date??

Great video. Thank you for the insight into preparation for birth taken by women of this time.

Hi Claire, was the birthing room usually a part of the Queen's regular rooms, or a separate room in a different area used only for births? you mentioned birthing equipment... that actually sounds somewhere between interesting and terrifying

I don’t think I would have liked confinement in a dark stuffy room...not matter how pretty the tapestries were! Ugh! Anne didn’t have the benefit of knowing what we know...for her the birth of a healthy girl might be a minor disappointment...but not a concern...the next one would surely be a son. Thank you for sharing Claire!

This was the first time I have seen an ad during the recording.

Wasn't Anne pregnant before she married Henry? If so, perhaps she delayed her confinement to make it look like she was due much later than she actually was.

I gave birth to my youngest son without any pain meds at all but it would have been the confinement that killed me, lol!!!

I like how hopeful Anne and Henry were. Even after the birth adding an extra ss showed what a happy time it was for the couple. Less than two weeks was a short confinement.

Love your lavender shirt!

Hi Claire!! I always thought it would be so smothering to be locked away to give birth! I don't know how the queens did it lol, but then again, I suppose not going into confinement just wasn't an option.

If only Anne could have known this little bundle was going to be so important! Elizabeth was a Virgo, btw...

I found this video randomly, and as I'm Anne's great fan, I'm your fan now, too!

Hey Claire I was just curious about the ad I got in the middle of the video. Does it help if I watch it all the way thru!? I heard some where that if you get an ad and it's one of your fave KZfaqrs to watch it to help the channel out, and so if this is true I won't skip anymore, because this is my all-time favorite channel! So if it helps let me know I'll watch it!

Thank you for your wonderfully informative video. Ann Boleyn is such an interesting person. Today women have relatively short labours due to modern drugs. In the 1800's and before labour would last 3 to 4 days!

Fascinating. Maybe she entered confinement later than usual because of the hot summer weather.

It does not surprise me that it was predicted that Anne would have a boy as the king would not be pleased and Anne knew that if she did not than her days would be numbered as was shown later

I get the feeling from Margaret Beaufort's instructions that when she gave birth herself in January in Pembroke Castle that it was absolutely freezing, you always over compensate when youve you've been very cold. Unfortunate if you were giving birth in a warm summer.

I was wondering when this occasion would be presented. I had forgotten it was this close to the birth. Personally I favour the idea of a November wedding for Anne an Henry, St. Erkenwald's day or whatever. A September birth indicates conception in December. The official wedding in late January could/would = a late October birth. By January, Anne should have had an idea if she had gotten pregnant in late November or early December. I have never read that Princess Elizabeth had the appearance of a premature baby. Any way the days are counted, an October birth would be necessary to support the idea of conception after January marriage. Figuring from that date, there is little chance Elizabeth could have survived in those days if she was nearly two months premature. So, it would be interesting to know how Anne and Henry decided when she should enter confinement! Was Elizabeth kicking heartily by late August?

Perhaps Anne was worried about going into her chamber as she would not be able to keep an eye on her husband. The king would take a mistress at this time and Anne could not turn a blind eye like Katherine had done throughput their marriage.

Excellent! There is a documented link between stress during pregnancy and much higher rates of autism. Since autism can be severe, disability, which would be noticeable.

Wouldn’t the spiced ale stall the births?

Wine & Spices..? what would a lunch like that look like?

Hi from NC USA. I caught that Anne was given a spiced drink but was she also given other "medication" for her childbirth?

Thank You Lord for what we have for child birth now

Lady Margaret Beaufort was amazing. My mother had 16 pregnancies, my mother delivered us mostly in hospital, I, however, was delivered in an elevator!!

Well, a lot of women give birth in a hospital now...... that is also not so nice if you think about it. Birth is after all a normal thing not a medical emergency always. A woman is lucky if she can be in an environment that is safe and known to her. Relaxation is important during birth. I think that you have that in a birthing chamber.

What is that tattoo on your left arm?

I still remember a science class I had as a child where we learned that the sex of the child is actually determined by the man and the woman actually has nothing to do with it. It just so happened that right before this science class we learned about Henry V111 getting rid of several wives because they only gave him girls. I still remember thinking if had he known this would he have accepted this as scientific fact? Or still blamed his wives as the source of his disappointments? Given Henry's gigantic ego I doubt it.

It means Elizabeth was expected in late sptember or early october. Imakes one wonder when Elizabeth was concepted ?

Do you think her mother was there as well?

Do we know which women "taking to their chambers" was in just queens and noble ladies" or did other women do it also ?

I wonder about fetal alcohol syndrome. An occasional glass of wine is considered safe, but they drank it all day, every day.

I have so much respect for all the women who had to deal with the perils of childbirth at a time when they had such a primitive level of medical knowledge. Giving birth during the Tudor era was just as dangerous as fighting in the front lines at the battle of Bosworth field. They weren't even aware of the importance of hygiene when it came to preventing infections. Look at the disastrous effect this lack of knowledge had on the life of Henry VIII. He lost his beloved mother and his favorite wife (though I realize she may not have remained his favorite if she had lived, considering Henry VIII's track record with wives) to childbed fever, which I believe was a condition caused by lingering infections of internal wounds incurred during the actual births. That's no different than a soldier being wounded in battle, and eventually dying because the wounds became infected. Women who gave birth during the Tudor era were basically soldiers in their own right.

Only one window to be open? Good grief! But that was 15th-century medicine..

Henry the 8th , mother was a Elizabeth of York.

Was this Anne first born?

She can be thankful she didn't have to give birth in August in the Mojave desert...103F today...

Kind of miss your red hair and braids :)

💖👑👑💖xx

How terrible to be locked up in that stuffy room that pregnant ugh poor Anne

Can not imagine hot and sticky and stuffy!,,