Caesarean section is a ubiquitous presence in modern medicine. In the US they account for around 1 in 3 births. This lecture will trace the early development of the practice, drawing on sources from a range of national contexts. In the late nineteenth century, as doctors increasingly turned to the procedure in desperate cases of obstructed labour, a complex ethical dialogue emerged around its practice, at the heart of which was a question as to the relative value of the mother and child’s lives. This lecture will draw together the medical, cultural, and religious threads which underlay the operation’s use (and resistance to it) and elucidate the experiences of both patients and practitioners entangled within its early use.

Join here:
kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/92524659786?pwd=L3RFN0ViQ1FsOHZXYklpc0xLNHJwZz09
Meeting ID: 925 2465 9786
Passcode: 766579