{{Short description|Form of self-surgery}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} A '''self-performed caesarean section''' is a form of [[self-surgery]] where a woman performs or attempts to perform a [[caesarean section]] on herself. Cases of self-performed caesarean section have been reported since the 18th and 19th century. While mostly deadly to either the woman, the child, or both, there are at least five known documented successful cases.<ref name="Szabo">{{Cite journal | last1 = Szabó | first1 = András | last2 = Brockington | first2 = Ian | doi = 10.1007/s00737-013-0398-z | title = Auto-Caesarean section: a review of 22 cases | journal = Archives of Women's Mental Health | volume = 17 | issue = 1 | pages = 79–83 | year = 2014 | pmid=24318749| s2cid = 10641064 }}</ref><ref name="Morrison2003">{{Cite journal | last1 = Morrison | first1 = J. | last2 = MacKenzie | first2 = I. Z. | doi = 10.1053/sper.2003.50002 | title = Cesarean section on demand | journal = Seminars in Perinatology | volume = 27 | issue = 1 | pages = 20–33 | year = 2003 | pmid = 12641300}}</ref>
==Notable case==
===Inés Ramírez Pérez=== In March 2000, Inés Ramírez Pérez, a [[Mexico|Mexican]] woman from the state of [[Oaxaca]], gained media attention after performing a [[caesarean section]] on herself. Despite having no medical training, the operation was successful and both she and her baby survived.
At midnight, on 5 March 2000, after 12 hours of continual pain, Ramírez sat down on a bench<ref name="smh">{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/01/1086037758224.html|title=True grit: the mum who delivered her own baby|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=1 June 2004|accessdate=4 November 2010}}</ref> and drank three small glasses of hard liquor.<ref name="ijgo">{{cite journal |author1=Molina-Sosa, A |author2=Galvan-Espinosa, H |author3=Gabriel-Guzman, J |author4=Valle, RF | title = Self-inflicted cesarean section with maternal and fetal survival | journal = International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics | volume = 84 | issue = 3 | pages = 287–290 | year = 2004 | doi = 10.1016/j.ijgo.2003.08.018 | pmid=15001385 |s2cid=38220990 }}</ref> She then used a {{convert|15|cm|in|adj=on}}<ref name="smh"/> kitchen knife to cut open her abdomen in a total of three attempts.<ref name="ijgo"/> Ramírez cut through her skin in a {{convert|17|cm|in|adj=on}}<ref name="smh"/> vertical line several centimeters to the right of her navel, starting near the bottom of the ribs and ending near the pubic area. (For comparison: a typical C-section incision is {{convert|10|cm|in}} long, horizontal and well below the navel, the [[Pfannenstiel incision]].) After operating on herself for an hour, she reached inside her uterus and pulled out her baby boy.<ref name="smh"/> She then severed the [[umbilical cord]] with a pair of scissors and became unconscious.<ref name="smh"/> She used clothes to bandage her wound after regaining consciousness, and sent one of her older sons to find help.<ref name="smh"/>
Several hours later, the village health assistant and a second man found Ramírez conscious and alert, along with her live baby.<ref name="smh"/> He sewed her incision with an available needle and thread.<ref name="smh"/>
Ramírez was eventually taken to the local clinic, {{convert|2.5|mi|km}} away in [[San Lorenzo Texmelucan]], and then to the nearest hospital, eight hours away by car. Sixteen hours thereafter she underwent surgical repair of the incision site. On the seventh post-operative day, she underwent a second surgery to repair complications resulting from damage to her intestines incurred during her C-section. She was released from the hospital on the tenth day post-surgery, and went on to make a complete recovery.
Describing her experience, Ramírez said, "I couldn't stand the pain anymore. If my baby was going to die, then I decided I would have to die, too. But if he was going to grow up, I was going to see him grow up, and I was going to be with my child. I thought that God would save both our lives."<ref name="smh"/>
The case was written up in the March 2004 issue of the ''[[International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics]]''.<ref name="ijgo"/>
She is also believed to have been profoundly lucky in several ways: to have put herself in the position she chose, which put her uterus – rather than her intestines – against the [[abdominal wall]] under the incision site; to have not succumbed to infection from the large open wound in a non-sterile environment; to have not passed out from the pain part-way through, bled to death, or died from shock. She did say, afterward, that she did not advise other women to follow her example.<ref name="smh"/>
==In popular culture== In the science fiction film ''[[Prometheus (2012 film)|Prometheus]]'', by [[Ridley Scott]], the character Elizabeth Shaw gives herself a caesarean section using a "MedPod", a fictional [[medical device]] that is able to diagnose illnesses and robotically perform the procedure. The "baby" is revealed to be a "trilobite" alien that has been growing inside her as a parasite.
The scene has been discussed,<ref name="mtv2012">{{cite news | url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1686988/prometheus-surgery-scene.jhtml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615122229/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1686988/prometheus-surgery-scene.jhtml | url-status=dead | archive-date=15 June 2012 | title='Prometheus': Secrets Behind The Surgery Scene | work=MTV News | date=11 June 2012 | accessdate=24 August 2013 | author=Kevin P. Sullivan}}</ref> drawing parallels with the [[Alien (creature in Alien franchise)|xenomorph]] birth scene in the original ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'' 1979 movie.<ref name="wired2012">{{cite magazine | url=https://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/06/prometheus-shock-scene/ | title=Prometheus Crew Spills Its Guts About Movie's Most Shocking Scene | magazine=Wired | date=7 July 2012 | accessdate=24 August 2013 | author=Pierce, Scott}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * Ronald Buchanan and Keith Dannemiller [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/mexico/1460240/I-put-the-knife-in-and-pulled-it-up.-Once-wasnt-enough.-I-did-it-again.-Then-I-cut-open-my-womb.html 'I put the knife in and pulled it up. Once wasn't enough. I did it again. Then I cut open my womb'] ''The Telegraph'', 25 Apr 2004 * Lisa J. Adams [http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2001943916_caesarean01.html Woman describes self-Caesarean] ''The Seattle Times'', 1 June 2004
[[Category:2000 in Mexico]] [[Category:Caesarean sections]] [[Category:Healthcare in Mexico]] [[Category:DIY medicine]]