36 weeks, 6 days, a 60-minute delivery
June 5, 2003
Caesarean section, step by step
Caesarean sections account for 23 percent of births in the United States. The procedure typically takes 30 to 45 minutes and qualifies as a major abdominal surgery.
Anesthesia
Anesthesia can take the form of an epidural or spinal insertion, both of which involve injecting anesthetic around the nerves coming from the spinal column (pictured at right), numbing the body below the chest. In emergencies, doctors can administer a general anesthetic to the patient, effectively putting her to sleep.
Pre-operation
Before the surgery, a catheter is inserted into the bladder to collect urine, and an IV line is used to provide fluids through the operation. Doctors thoroughly wash the abdomen and partially shave the pubic hair. Leads are connected to monitor blood pressure and heart rate.
Operation
Doctors make a skin incision, usually laterally across the lower belly (pictured at left), and then continue cutting down through the uterus. They then open the amniotic sac, and another doctor disengages the baby from the pelvis by hand and removes him or her from the uterus. The umbilical cord is cut and clamped, and the newborn is evaluated away from the site of the surgery. Finally, doctors deliver the placenta and close the incision with sutures and staples, to be removed a few days later.
Comments
Post a comment
You are not currently logged in. You must log in using your Facebook account to post a comment. It's fast, easy, and we don't store any of your personal information, except your first and last name when you post a comment.
Why?
Our old comment system was abused to leave racist, sexist, fradulent, or simply useless comments. We're hoping this verification step will improve the quality of our comments.
I don't have a Facebook account. I'd like to verify my identity using my MySpace/Google/Yahoo!/OpenID/SSN/주민등록번호/MasterCard.
Let us know. We're open to suggestions. Over the next few weeks, we'll be testing other authentication methods.
The FBI/CIA/TSA/CoS/Emmert is out to get me! I need to stay anonymous!
We're working on a way to allow this. If you have any ideas, email us.
I think this website is ugly.
It's going to be a work in progress all summer, so it may look and act differently from week to week. If you want to influence this process, email us. We read every email, and respond to most of them.