sĭzârˈēən, delivery of an infant by surgical removal from the uterus through an abdominal incision. The operation is of ancient origin: indeed, the name derives from the legend that Julius Caesar was born in this fashion. Until advancements in the late 19th cent., the mother generally died in surgery. The procedure was also aided by antisepsis, anesthetics, and other developments that made surgery as a whole more successful. Cesarean section is performed nowadays when factors exist that make natural childbirth hazardous, such as an abnormally narrow pelvis, pelvic tumors, hemorrhage, active infection with herpes simplex, multiple births, or an abnormal position of the fetus within the uterus. In the last few decades there has been a significant increase in the number of cesarean sections performed–a response both to the increase in malpractice litigation arising from problems attendant to vaginal deliveries and to the information provided by the many new devices that monitor the well-being of the fetus in the uterus. A trend toward vaginal delivery by some women who had formerly had a cesarean section began in the late 1980s.

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

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