Quick facts on cesarean
Quick facts on cesarean
JAKARTA (JP): It was once mistakenly believed that the word
"cesarean" originated from the surgical birth of Julius Caesar,
but the myth was revised later because his mother Aurelia is
reputed to have been alive when her son's army invaded Britain.
In earlier times, according to records from U.S. National
Library of Medicine (www.nlm.nih.gov), the procedure was only
performed when the mother was dead or dying, as an attempt to
save the child for a state wishing to increase its population.
Roman law under Caesar decreed that all women who were so fated
by childbirth must be cut open; hence, cesarean.
Other possible Latin origins include the verb "caedare" which
means to cut, and the term "caesones" that was applied to infants
born by postmortem operations.
The first written record of a successful cesarean section
comes from Switzerland in 1500 when a sow gelder, Jacob Nufer,
gained permission from the local authority to perform the
operation on his wife. But historians question its accuracy
because the story was only recorded after 82 years.
The operation was done at an earlier stage in failing labor
when the mother was not near death and the fetus was less
distressed, thus increasing both mother's and baby's life
chances. It was performed on kitchen tables and beds, minimizing
the chances for infection passed between patients in hospitals.
Anesthesia in childbirth became popular among the wealthy only
after the head of the Church of England, Queen Victoria, had
chloroform administered for the births of two of her children
(Leopold in 1853 and Beatrice in 1857).
Cesarean, or c-section, is initiated by anesthesia, either
general or regional anesthesia (epidural or spinal).
General anesthesia may be needed in an emergency procedure and
you will be asleep during the delivery. If spinal or epidural is
chosen, you will awake for the birth of your baby, but numb from
below the breast to the toes.
Steps of the surgery, which usually takes about an hour:
* A catheter is placed into the bladder to drain urine during
surgery.
* A needle will be inserted in a vein in your hand or arm to give
fluids during the operation and medications, if needed.
* After the abdomen is shaved and washed and you are numb, the
surgeon makes the first incision -- usually, a horizontal or
bikini cut (across) just above your pubic bone, although a
vertical (up and down) one from your navel to your pubic bone may
be needed.
* The second incision is made in the wall of the uterus. A
horizontal incision is preferred because there is less bleeding
and it heals with a stronger scar. Sometimes, a vertical incision
is needed for reasons such as certain positions of the baby or
the placenta.
* The doctor can then open the amniotic sac and deliver the baby.
You may feel some tugging, pulling and some pressure.
* Next, the placenta is detached and removed.
* Finally, the incisions in the uterus and abdomen are closed.
(Injil Abu Bakar)