Daily AncestorDifficult labor
Difficult labor meant a long, hard childbirth in which the baby could not be delivered normally; the mother, the baby or both could die.
The 1911 Census Bureau manual lists difficult labor among other accidents of labor, beside breech presentation, forceps delivery, caesarean section and rupture of the uterus in labor. IPUMS has a code for other accidents of childbirth.
On older records the same death may be written as childbirth, confinement or simply in labor.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Mrs. Lydia Schoonhoven, 22, F, W, Aug., Difficult labor
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Daily Ancestor. "Difficult labor." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/difficult-labor. Last checked 2026-10-12.