 Much of Charlotte 's day to day care was undertaken by Sir Richard Croft . Croft was not a physician , but an <unk> , or male midwife , much in fashion among the well @-@ to @-@ do . Charlotte was believed to be due to deliver on 19 October , but as October ended , she had shown no signs of giving birth , and drove out as usual with Leopold on Sunday 2 November . On the evening of 3 November , her contractions began . Sir Richard encouraged her to exercise , but would not let her eat : late that evening , he sent for the officials who were to witness and attest to the royal birth . As the fourth of November became the fifth , it became clear that Charlotte might be unable to expel the child , and Croft and Charlotte 's personal physician , Matthew Baillie , decided to send for obstetrician John Sims . However , Croft did not allow Sims to see the patient , and forceps were not used . According to Plowden in her book , they might have saved her and the child , though there was a very high mortality rate when instruments were used in the era before antiseptics . 
