Pregnancy

Sex is a gamble, each act of intercourse carries which it the chance of a resulting pregnancy. Don’t assume that this only poses a problem for female characters, for while they have to deal with the immediate problem more immediately, it is quite possible for a gentleman to discover himself unexpectedly saddled with a bastard nine months down the line.

## Birds & Bees: How one gets pregnant

On behalf of Mother Nature, the moderating team throw a dice every month for every character (PC and NPC] that has had intercourse three months ago (to reflect smaller miscarriages etc that would hardly be noticeable the first quarter of pregnancy is ignored). Both negative and positive modifiers are then applied taking into consideration the past history or each player, how promiscuous they have been, general precautions taken and various other secret things. If a character is not pregnant nothing will happen, life will go on as normal.

If we get a positive result, the woman can expect hints and warning signs will start to appear when a sufficient amount of time has passed for the pregnancy to begin affecting them. Then she can decide whether it is time to panic or rejoice. Gentleman will get no immediate clues if they managed to impregnate someone, they are totally reliant on the woman in their life to share the news. After some time has passed gents might begin noticing changes in that certain woman that lead him to suspect the truth, though remember a pregnancy can easily be concealed by the dresses of the age well into the fifth month.

Just to get a general idea, here are some of the cumulative modifiers we use:

* -1 for taking herbal precautions
* -2 for withdrawal method
* -2 for rinsing out the womb after intercourse
* -2 for using a condom (cannot be combined with withdrawal method or rinsing womb)
* -1 for being under stress
* -1 for any past illness that might cause infertility
* -2 for refraining from sex when you think you are most fertile
* -2 if woman is over 35
* -4 if woman over 40
* -1 if woman under 16
* -1 for previous abortion
* -4 for being sexually active without precautions for several years and never falling pregnant
* -6 for having solid reason to think you are barren
* -2 if woman had sex but a couple times that month.

* +1 for past pregnancies
* +1 for fathering other children
* +2 for frequent intercourse. Frequent is defined as more than 6 times a week
* +2 for having intercourse when most fertile
* +1 if woman loves the man (opposite of stress)

A lady in her childbearing years has a base 10% chance of still being pregnant after three months, though modifiers nearly always apply. That means on a 20 sided die (a "d20") if you roll a 19-20, the woman is pregnant, though using the modifiers above that could drop as low as 8-20 (40%) or as high as never (0%). Moderators will above all translate IC story logic into modifiers when making the final call. We hope you notice that you can influence failure or success by clever play.

## Consequences of pregnancy for a PC

Apart from obvious signs and discomfort (fatique, morning sickness, belly aches, swollen ankles, moodswings, protruding belly) there are some important consequences that a female PC will be confronted with. Consider carefully if you are willing to deal with those consequences.

### Restrictions

A lady known to be pregnant, married or not, will be expected to limit her actions so as not to threaten the child. This means no strenuous activity such as sword fighting, horse riding and dancing. Likely she'll be fussed over by relatives and/or husbands who suggest that she takes naps, put up her feet, and only think happy thoughts (for what you think, it was widely believed, might affect the child's looks and abilities).

Apart from imagined ills, there is the possibility of an actual rough pregnancy that may leave the character weak, frequently in bed etc.

### Confinement

The period between the 8th month of pregnancy and the month thereafter the (expectant) mother is confined to her country estate, with only female attendants and possibly her husband. In the game this means that if this falls into a season you'll be out of the game for some time. We therefore try to time those periods into recesses.

### Childbirth

There are several risks involved with childbirth, that may result in either the death of a PC or the baby. Other consequences can be ill health or future bareness. Modifiers include the good health of the mother, her wide hips and the presence of appropriate healthcare. As your time draws near moderators will discuss how you can influence this.

**How you can influence the risk of your PC dying as a result of childbirth**

1. **Don't get pregnant**- Either don't have sex, do not get married, or find a way to persuade your husband to continue to avoid pregnancy. Alternative you can use contraceptives (such as condoms or herbs) in a bid to avoid conception.
2. **Undo the pregnancy** - Perhaps your character has a miscarriage due to a fall, or an illness, which can be voluntarily attracted for this purpose. Riding horse till late in the pregnancy for instance is a well known risk. There are abortive herbs. There are abortionists. All of this of course carries its own risk, but not death if you decide on it swiftly after your dice roll reveals the pregnancy. The later in the pregnancy the bigger the risks to the mother.
3. **Make sure your husband cares about your continued survival** - It is the husband who decides in the heat of the moment whether to spare the child or the mother if a choice has to be made. It is also the husband who pays (and finds) the midwives and or doctors.
4. **Have good healthcare** - A midwife of good standing is always better than a doctor as they are more experienced in female needs and the specifics of childbirth. However if you have small hips or other such diagnoses have been made, then adding a doctor to the team might improve your chances.

### Unmarried Mothers

Though society can be quite liberal in its outlook it is not yet ready to turn a blind eye to illegitimate pregnancies. There is some good news however, it does not matter when the child was conceived as long as it is born in wedlock, not necessarily to the biological father. There are likely to be dire consequences for a young woman who has an illegitimate child, which can varying from losing all financial privacies to all out being disowned by her family. The one exception is if the father is a very high profile and powerful figure and he chooses to acknowledge the child as his own.

**If faced with a pregnancy out of wedlock there are several options open to you:**

1. **Undo the pregnancy** - Perhaps your character has a miscarriage due to a fall, or an illness, which can be voluntarily attracted for this purpose. Riding horse till late in the pregnancy for instance is a well known risk. There are abortive herbs. There are abortionists. All of this of course carries its own risk, but not death if you decide on it swiftly after your dice roll reveals the pregnancy. The later in the pregnancy the bigger the risks to the mother.
2. **Hide the pregnancy** - With a little luck and some careful dressing you may be able to hide the pregnancy for a long time. You will need to employ tactics to divert attention if people begin to become suspicious. As soon as you begin to show you will need to hide from public life, make arrangements on where you will have the child and who will take it in. However, such a path is wide open to blackmail.
3. **Get married** - It does not matter that you were not married when you conceived, or who the biological father is, as long as you get a ring on your finger before the child is born. Trick, plead or bribe someone into marrying you.
4. **Do nothing** - You can of course decide to turn your back on convention and openly announce to everyone you are having a child out of wedlock and hope the father will support you. However, you must be prepared to face the consequences and may find yourself a social pariah.

## Pleading your Belly

If you are about to be convicted for a crime, pregnancy might be the best thing that just happened to you. Or maybe you can simply pretend to be pregnant. Pleading the belly was a process available at English common law, which permitted women pregnant with late stage fetuses to receive a reprieve of their death sentences until delivery.

In practice those ladies that pleaded their bellies were often pardoned, or their sentence was transmuted to transportation. While a set of matrons was supposed to check if a child had indeed quickened (aka if movement could be detected), this system was very fraudulent and supposedly open to bribes, including getting women pregnant when already in jail.