Cesarean Section, 17th Century
A woodcut from 1601. A woman lying on a bed is being restrained by two male assistants while the surgeon extracts the infant during a cesarean section. The Roman Lex Regia of Numa Pompilius (715-673 BC), required that the child of a mother dead in childbirth be cut from her womb, a religious requirement that mothers not be buried pregnant, that evolved into a way of saving the fetus when it was realized the woman could not survive the delivery. Speculation that Julius Caesar was born by the method is false. A Caesarean section is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver one or more babies. A Caesarean section is usually performed when a vaginal delivery would put the baby's or mother's life or health at risk
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1601 Assistants Caesarea Caesarian Cesarean Extracts Gynecology Newborn Numa Obstetrics Pompilius Pregnancy Procedure Regia Restrained Surgeon Surgery Surgical Vaginal Woodblock
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