Three children born using ‘twilight sleep’

AFTER the birth of Prince Andrew, the Queen — according to one of her ladies-in-waiting — suffered ‘post-natal side-effects’ because the baby had been born using the now-discredited method of ‘twilight sleep’.

‘Dammerschlaf’ was a form of childbirth pioneered in Germany in the early 20th century in which the adminstration of drugs (morphine and scopolamine) puts the patient into an amnesic state during labour. The mother remains semi-conscious but apparently pain-free and has no subsequent recollection of the experience. The baby is delivered by forceps.

In fact, Charles and Anne were also delivered via the ‘twilight sleep’ method — and Prince Edward’s was the first birth not to involve it.

The difficult aftermath of Andrew’s birth may possibly have put the Queen off that delivery method for good.