Whatchamacallit

Calling all romance novel readers: I need help remembering the author and title of a book but I only remember the very beginning and the end. The end stuck with me over the years because the conclusion of the chapter made it seem like the heroine died. I remember thinking, no way.....she can't be dead! I think that was my first shock at a possible non-HEA book. I remember the beginning had the hero losing his first wife during childbirth and due to that initial loss he was afraid of his second wife getting pregnant. Of course she eventually did get pregnant and when she went into labor he stayed in the room with her. I remember the midwife had a fit about this, telling him it wasn't proper for a man to be there but he fought her on it and was allowed to stay with his wife. I remember there was a lot of blood loss after the baby was delivered and at one point the hero cried over his wife's unmoving body. She appeared to be dead but in the final chapter (possibly the epilogue) it was revealed that she was still alive. I read this book years ago when I first started reading romance and back then the main authors I read were Julie Garwood and Kathleen Woodiwiss. I am 99.999999% sure it's not a JG book so is it possibly a KW book? I'm not sure why this book popped back in to my mind recently but it won't go away til I figure out its name. ;)