Caesarean section is an obstetric procedure where the baby is delivered by an incision through the mother's abdomen & uterus, as opposed to a (normal) vaginal delivery. this is carried out when the baby cannot be delivered safely the usual way, eg. big baby, small pelvis, abnormal placenta, etc. it is, however, not without risk (read here) to mother (infection, excessive bleeding, delayed bowel function) or child (breathing difficulty, accidental surgical injury, neonatal deaths), as revealed in a recent study. (read the abstract here or the commentary here)
therefore, one would not consider a C-section unless the well-being of the mother or baby is threatened. but because obstetric practice, anaesthetic techniques & neonatal facilities have improved dramatically over the years, these risks have correspondingly diminished. in fact, it is common nowadays for parents (read : prospective fathers) to request for a C-section to be done (esp in private hospitals) on an auspicious time & date, more so if the 1st born is a boy.
in another recently published research paper, it was discovered that tiny blood clots are seen in the brains of a staggering 26% of babies born vaginally, most likely as a result of compression of the baby's head during it's passage through the birth canal. (read the abstract here or the commentary here). although it is currently not known if this has a significant outcome in the health of the babies born this way, we would do well to exercise caution & not react in a knee-jerk manner. it would clearly be unwise to be swayed by the result of just this one paper & start consulting the calenders & making a beeline for the obstetricians' office, insisting on a C-section!!
be that as it may, i can foresee countless enquiries being made on this matter, once this study becomes widely known. after all, which parent would not be unduly concerned about the health of the unborn child?
but i can confidently assure you that C-section babies are certainly NOT intellectually superior than their vaginally-delivered peers. i was born by C-section & i have NEVER been top of my class.
i rest my case.
p.s. although the true origin of the phrase caesarean section is unsure, it is NOT attributed to the roman emperor caesar, who himself was probably NOT delivered that way.
15 comments:
People who opt for caserian delivery do so for cosmetic reasons and also, less pain ( so they claim) and the convenience factor ( for both patient and doc).
I believe in natural things and means - natural food, not genetically modified/engineered; natural look, not surgically enhanced or plastic; and natural birth - unless there are compelling reasons for it. Somehow, there is always a cost factor when man tries to outsmart nature.
On a lighter note, in one Shakespeare's play, Macbeth could only be defeated by someone 'not born of woman' according to witches' predictions, and he met his death at the hands of Macduff who was born premature through the medieval equivalent of a caesarian section, thus 'not born of woman' !
I wonder when was the very first caesarean delivery done ?
just me,
that may be true for some, but there are valid medical reasons to have a planned C-section, eg. precious baby, anticipated difficult labour.
there is certainly less pain ONLY if the procedure is carried out under spinal or epidural anaesthesia, but eventually there will still be discomfort when the anaesthesia wears off.
joepsc,
i agree with you whole-heartedly. man can never hope to go against nature & expect to win everytime - he does get away sometimes though, & this C-section could be one of them.
thanks for the info on Macbeth. indeed, Macduff was "untimely ripped from his mother's womb". if Macbeth had realised what the witches meant, he might have been more wary of his opponents.
it's possible that Shakespeare, who wrote Macbeth around 1603, could have read about a swiss man, Jacob Nufer, who operated on his own wife & thus performed the earliest recorded C-section on a living woman in 1500.
the momma heals faster with virginal birth, no?
nyonya,
in most case, yes. mothers who deliver normally usually go home the next day, if baby is ok.
but nowadays, with a good anaesthetic, mothers who had a c-section can go home after 2 days. breast-feed even!
Either way sounds daunting to me. Maybe there are clots in my brain? Hehe. Me borned natural birth.
lynnx,
whatever tiny clots you had, it would have resolved after a few days. obviously that did not affect your intelligence!!
where's the comment I posted?
anastasia,
your comment was not received at all, so please feel free to re-post.
for the record, i've never had to delete any comment because....er...everyone has been nice to me. *grin*
so far.
Hmmm i wonder if it was invented by some old Malacca-folks - we could be calling it Muzaffar section or Cheng Ho section huh!
ah frapps,
back from your secret training??
erm.. nyonya: you must have meant vaginal birth instead of virginal birth? :P
yah, natural passage good lor, but some first time moms scared leh. But its a debate between been cut open vs the other means.
las montanas,
you are right on the spelling oversight.
normal delivery with its birth pangs is a covenant between God & man after The Fall in the garden of Eden. in fact, it is regarded so traditionally natural that i have seen several birthing mothers refuse any form of pain relief (eg. entonox, epidural) bcos their mothers or mothers-in-law insisted they have a natural birth without any analgesia. poor things, suffering for the sake of tradition!
then again, you are a doc now and we have absolutely no idea how the rest of your class turned out. maybe the intellectually superior part blossoms later in life? :-p :-p
it seems to be the trend nowadays to go for c-section, for all the wrong reasons. mums want to fix a good date & to save their body figure so that the pelvis doesn't have to be too big(?!) and some gynaes just want more moolahs from surgery. peeves me off.
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