There were crude methods of birth control; not all of them effective. Withdrawl, douches, reusable condoms, rythem method. And of course people engaged in anal and oral sex (zero chance of pregnancy). And if all else failed women did get abortions. Alot of old remedy books contain recipes for concoctions to help women bring on their menses. Under common law abortion wasn’t illegal until the quickening (ie the when fetus starts kicking), usually around the 4th or 5th month.
She’s pregnant with their first child.
As for William & Mary… William III was mostly uninterested in women, having several male ‘favorites’. He did have one mistress, who bore him no children, but after his death she married and had children were her husband. Both Mary II and her sister Queen Anne probably suffered from congenital syphilis inherited from their father.
Charles II actually impregnated Catherine of Braganza several times, but she kept miscarrying. The Stuarts had miserable luck producing legitimate offspring.
Don’t forget wax and alum applied to the woman’s vagina. Not particularly comfortable, I’d imagine, but I can see how it would be effective.
She’s having a baby with her second husband, Kevin Federline. Jason Allen Alexander was her first husband, for 55 hours in Las Vegas.
You may be onto something there – Hans Christian Andersen never procreated, did he?