%0 Journal Article
%T Paula Modersohn-Becker, the challenges of pregnancy and the weight of tradition
%A Giorgina B Piccoli
%A Scott L Karakas
%J Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1747-5341-6-11
%X "Wie schade" she said, and then she died. Thus on November 21, 1907, ended the brief life of Paula Modersohn-Becker at just thirty-one years of age. Widely considered to have been one of the most important independent Expressionist painters of the early twentieth century, Paula had given birth to her first child, Mathilde, on November 2, 1907. Her sudden death, due to massive pulmonary thromboembolism, occurred almost immediately after she was allowed to leave her bed for the first time following her delivery. Her biographers recount that she combed her hair, adorned it with red roses received as presents, and slowly walked to the living room, where her daughter was in her crib. Paula took Mathilde in her arms and said "Now it's almost as beautiful as Christmas", then suddenly fell to the floor. "What a pity" were her last words [1].Paula's story demonstrates the deadly outcome of deep venous thrombosis, a complication of pregnancy that is relatively common when women are set to bed for a long time after delivery, as was customary at that time [2-4]. Now, some one hundred years later, the story of this very special young woman offers insights into the cultural reception of pregnancy, the changing definition of high-risk pregnancies, and the role of conventional wisdom in the medical profession.Paula Becker was born on February 8, 1876 in Dresden, Germany [5]. The third of seven children, Paula's mother came from an aristocratic family. Her Russian-born father served as an official with the German railway system, and the children grew up in a home stressing intellectualism and culture. Paula displayed artistic talent from a very early age, and her parents arranged for her to take painting and drawing lessons. Concerned that art would be a difficult career for a woman, they also encouraged her to complete a two-year teacher training course before agreeing to support her studies at the Society of Women Artists in Berlin, as well as the artists' colony at Worpswede. The
%U http://www.peh-med.com/content/6/1/11