A whole range of inventions that make up the modern day caesarean section.

November 1940 ... my grandmother, suffering from pre-eclampsia, very nearly died in childbirth. Thankfully, she was fortunate enough to pull through. Her baby, a little girl, was not so lucky. She was stillborn. Sadly, stories like this were all too common not so long ago.

Skip forward sixty years ... during labour, the doctors discovered that my baby was lodged sideways in a rather awkward 'transverse' position. Quite simply, she was stuck and I was whisked into theatre for an emergency caesarean. The procedure wasn't painful, it wasn't scary, although it was rather surreal, chatting with the anaesthetist while I could feel the surgeon rummaging around inside me.

Later, while cradling my perfectly healthy, new-born baby I asked the surgeon, 'What would have happened to someone in my situation before modern day caesareans were developed?' to which she replied, 'You would have suffered a long, drawn out, agonising death and most likely the baby would have died too.'

With the recent 'too posh to push' headlines, the caesarean section often gets a bad press these days, but I owe my life to the many scientists and inventors that have contributed to the development of the modern day caesarean, (the development of sutures, anaesthetics, antisepsis, and antibiotics. The invention of blood pressure monitors, heart rate monitors, hypodermic needles, catheters and so on), and I can think of no better way to show my appreciation of these life saving inventions than to live my life to the absolute fullest.

Submitted by: Lydia Houghton