Who would believe that cesarean delivery, now a guaranteed safe option for both mother and child, was once a brutal surgery performed only on dying or dead mothers to save their babies? Early medical knowledge couldn’t control bleeding or prevent infections, making survival nearly impossible.
Cesarean sections have existed for roughly 4,000 years since the Bronze Age, documented in both Eastern and Western civilizations. The procedure even followed Roman religious laws forbidding the burial of pregnant women. Still, most babies delivered this way died too.
So why did this method gain acceptance?
Because eventually, someone succeeded in performing a cesarean where both mother and child survived. That person wasn’t a doctor, but a Swiss pig castrator named Jacob Nufer. In 1500, after 13 midwives failed and days had passed with no progress, he decided to take matters into his own hands, using his surgical skills from working with pigs and saving their lives.
Nufer’s success gave the medical community confidence in cesarean delivery, despite most cases still ending in death. As women moved to cities during the 19th century and increasingly used hospital services, doctors gained more experience and knowledge.
But what truly saved lives were anesthetics invented by dentist William Morton in 1846 and new antiseptic solutions. Before antibiotics were discovered, these innovations finally made cesarean delivery safe and widespread across the globe.
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