Execution of Edith Thompson

A woman named Edith Thompson was ordered to be executed by hanging in 1923 for the murder of her husband. When the gallow’s trapdoor opened and she fell, the sudden impact of the noose caused her to suffer a massive vaginal hemorrhage, which was later speculated to have been a fetus. After this, all women who were executed by hanging were made to wear special canvas knickers to prevent such things from occurring again.