This past week, a young first time mom had been laboring for a long time without any progress. She was a small-framed woman and finally it was determined that she had a cephalopelvic disproportion, meaning that the baby’s head was too big to pass through the mom’s pelvis.
I scrubbed in acting as scrub-tech and first assistant with Dr. Faile. He did most of the C-section, but allowed me to pull the baby out of the womb. It was not as easy as I thought it would be. I think the fact that the baby’s head was so far down into the pelvis made it a bit more difficult. With the help of Dr. Faile, the head was out, and the baby started crying right away. We pulled the baby all the way out, it was a boy – something that I’m sure will make the mother and father very happy. In West African culture having your first born be a son is very important.
William was in the OR photographing this C-section and has put together a slideshow that follows the operation from start to finish. If you are interested in what is involved in a C-section it is a good watch – however, be warned that it is very graphic.