The queen rounds apace. * * * * * * She is spread of late Into a goodly bulk. Winter’s Tale, Act II., Sc. I.
The queen, your mother, rounds apace: we shall Present our services to a fine new prince One of these days. Winter’s Tale, Act II., Sc. I.
She grew round-wombed, and had a son for her cradle ere she had a husband for her bed. King Lear, Act I., Sc. I.
Great-bellied women, That had not half a week to go, like rams In the old time of war, would shake the press And make ’em reel before ’em. Henry VIII., Act IV., Sc. I.
Parturition is referred to in many instances.
Lucina, O Divinest patroness, and midwife gentle To those that cry by night, convey thy deity Aboard our dancing boat; make swift the pangs Of my queen’s travails! Pericles, Act III., Sc. I.
What shall be done with groaning Juliet? She’s very near her hour. Measure for Measure, Act II., Sc. II.
Come, let us go, and pray to all the gods For our beloved mother in her pains. Titus Andronicus, Act IV., Sc. II.
The lady shrieks, and well-a-near Doth fall in travail with her fear. Pericles, Gow to Act III.
She is deliver’d, lords,—she is deliver’d. I mean, she is brought a-bed. Titus Andronicus, Act IV., Sc. II.