Do women lay on their backs to give birth rather than squatting because King James enjoy watching women give birth so much?

by DarthOtter

Came across this interesting "factoid" and I'm curious if there's any grain of truth to it -

King James (the one known for revising the Bible) liked to watch women give birth. That’s where the “tradition” of women laying on their backs to give birth comes from.

Searching for information on King James is a bit tricky as my search results are dominated by Bible stuff...

gerardmenfin

This story was also attributed to Louis XIV, and I addressed it here. The now deleted question was:

Is it true that the trend of women give birth laying down is because King Louis XIV had a fetish for watching his wife give birth and wanted a better view of it happening? I was told this in an EMT class.

The Louis XIV version has roots in some old gossip and speculation by 1970s-era critics of modern birthing practices. The King James version (which seems to live on Tumblr) is likely derived from it. There's a Napoleon version too.