With the development of anatomical dissections in early modern Europe, there was renewed interest in the viability of caesarean sections in extreme cases to save the life of the mother and unborn child. A Swiss pig gelder, Jacob Nufer, was reported to have undertaken one in 1500 to save his wife and child. In the 1580s, there was a vigorous debate about their viability headed by the physician Franc\u0327ois Rousset, who toured France interview- ing surgeons and women to collect evidence of rare but successful caesarean sections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

However, in an age without anaesthetics or regular antiseptic measures, most attempts ended in the death of the mother, and so the procedure was almost universally abandoned \u2013 particularly when the introduction of forceps in the 17th century offered an alternative for obstructed labours. It was not until the late 19th century that caesareans re-emerged in western medicine. There were also contemporary reports of local surgeons practising them successfully in Uganda and Rwanda, using herb-based medicines and alcoholic anaesthetics derived from local plants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Answered by Valerie Worth-Stylianou, editor of\u00a0Pregnancy and Birth in Early Modern France\u00a0<\/em>(University of Toronto Press, 2013)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This Q&A was first published in the April 2021 issue of BBC History Magazine<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n

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