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If you think forcing out an entire separate human from your body is a painful experience, well… you’re right, but it could be even more so.
Back before C-sections were common and death didn’t seem like a desirable alternative, if a baby was having difficulty coming out, surgeons went in and cut some of the mother’s bones and cartilage to make more room for the baby’s exit in a procedure called a symphysiotomy. (For those of you not really into in-depth and descriptive surgical definitions, it’s basically cutting the woman’s pelvis in half.)
Here’s a visual (the “5” area is what was cut). It’s still not totally clear what’s happening here, but I think you get the general horrifying picture.
This procedure took a long time using just a basic scalpel, which was not ideal for the busy surgeon or the patient (who was subjected to unimaginable pain). In the late 18th century, two Scottish surgeons remedied the situation by employing a “modified knife with serrated ‘teeth’ on a chain” to speed up the process.
In the procedure, “the doctor would grab the saw, which had a handle on both ends, and wrap the chain around the pelvic bone, pulling each handle so the chain would cut into the bone.” This was regarded as the “more precise and humane option.”
This lasted through much of the 19th century as a crucial part of the common surgical toolbox until C-sections grew in popularity.
By 1830, the chainsaw was modified to be more generally functional during surgery. Again, it was actually considered an improvement for your doctor to start waving a chainsaw at you like an altruistic Leatherface. Considering the previous standard tools of the trade, such as cleavers and axes, the results were much more precise, but I imagine the bedside manner still left much to be desired.
It took another 30 years or so before someone realized that a larger one of these things…
