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)