History of caesarean section surgery

Abstract

Caesarean section is one of the oldest operations in the history of mankind and is the most common surgical intervention in obstetric practice. Translated from Latin, «caesarean section» means «royal cut», and in the days of the Roman Empire, only people marked with a special gift could be born in this way. According to one of the existing legends, this is how Gaius Julius Caesar was born, and it was the incision in his mother's womb that gave him the name «Caesar». However, given the fact that his mother died when Caesar was 46 years old, the legend still has the right to remain a legend. It is also believed that by removing the baby from the womb of the deceased mother, the ancient Greek god Asclepius, the doctor, was born — he was also Aesculapius among the Romans. His mother was struck by Zeus the Thunderer for her infidelity to her husband Apollo, but the child was taken out alive after the woman's death. Be that as it may, the first mentions of a caesarean section do not at all date back to the 16th century, as was commonly believed, but have much deeper roots. It is believed that even some famous people were born by removing them from their mother's womb, and this gave them a chance at life. The beginning of the scientific version of the appearance of the caesarean section operation can be considered the publication of the monograph by F. Rousset in 1581, in which a sufficiently detailed description of the technique of the cesarean section operation was provided and a list of indications for it was given [2]. Today, this operation is a fairly common surgical intervention that can significantly alleviate the suffering of a woman in labor, avoid a number of complications, and sometimes save the life of a mother and child.