Forgotten obstetric procedures

In the Medieval Times every third woman died during labour. The labour was assessed by uneducated women called ‘wise crones’, therefore, the procedure was called ‘croning’. It was not until Renaissance, when men were accepted as obstetricians. Then, the medics who were familiar with the anatomy joined to the profession along with well-educated surgeons who introduced a number of obstetric procedures, most of which have already been forgotten for a long time. There were two key moments in the development of modern obstetrics, namely, the introduction of forceps delivery by Chamberlane and Palfyn and the execution of the Caesarean section (C-section). In the case of breech presentation, the use of breech hooks and Wincle-Martin-Wiganda procedure were completely withdrawn along with external rotations. Only twofnger rotation, in the case of premature labour and incomplete cervical dilatation, is still used. Internal rotations, in the cases of complete dilatation, are performed only during the delivery of the second baby in twin pregnancy when the second foetus remains in horizontal position, after the delivery of the frst twin. One of the most signifcant moments in obstetric history was also the procedure performed by a midwife Justyna Siegemundin who turned the foetus in the uterus holding its foot with the use of a special obstetric tape. The procedures of craniotomy (reducing the foetal head size), cleidotomy (reducing the foetal shoulder girdle size by cutting the collarbone), exenteratio (reducing the foetal trunk size) or decapitation (cutting of the foetal head) are never used any longer. The procedures of symphysiotomy (cutting the symphysis) or Schuhardt’s extensive uterine muscle incision have also been suspended. Last but not least obstetric procedure, which is not used contemporarily, is the Fritsch’s grip used to stop atonic postpartum haemorrhage. Keyword: history, caesarean section, forceps, rotations/versio