Something I Learned Today: Cesarean-Sections Are CRAZY Cool

Don't worry. This isn't a picture of the baby we delivered this morning.

---

If you listened to our most recent podcast episode, you would have heard that I just recently finished my two-month surgery rotation during my third year of medical school. Since then, I've had the pleasure of starting my first week of my Obstetrics and Gynecology (or OB/GYN) rotation. My first few weeks on this rotation will be spent doing Labor and Delivery (L&D) shifts, which means I'll get the opportunity to watch and, if the opportunity presents itself, help actually deliver newborn babies. Since the schedule is a little more manageable than surgery tended to be, I thought I'd start sharing some brief stories/thoughts on things I'll be learning throughout my time on this rotation!

Today was actually my first L&D shift of the rotation, and the very first thing I was told when I reported to the unit this morning was, "We have a C-section in about an hour." For those of you not supremely invested in the medical field, a Cesarean section or "C-section" is an alternative way of delivering a newborn baby compared to how most babies tend to be born. To avoid being overly graphic, I'll just say that a C-section involves making an incision (or cut) into the mother's stomach and delivering the baby through that opening. That's about the most G-rated way to describe it. The C-section is revered amongst medical students as one of, if not the most barbaric-looking procedures we'll ever have the pleasure of seeing during our medical careers. It's a very safe procedure when performed, don't worry, but like any other surgical procedure, it comes with some risks. It's because of this that, in the modern day, it's generally reserved for babies/mothers with some serious issue at hand that would prevent the baby from being able to be delivered normally.

As someone on my very first L&D shift who had never seen a baby delivered, whether normally or by C-section, having my very first witnessed delivery be via C-section was somewhat akin to attending an amusement park for the first time in your life and immediately jumping in line for the Kingda Ka. It was a few minutes later that I found out I not only would be in the room, but that I would be the primary assistant to the doctor for the whole procedure.

A mere 90 minutes later, I was standing at the side of the operating table, helping prep the site for the initial incision. All gowned and sterile. I noted that, as is actually quite common during C-sections, the mother was awake on the other side of our sterile drape. There were about 15 people in the room at the time, but somehow I was the one who had the privilege to be standing directly across the table from the doctor as they made the first cut. The next five minutes were an absolute blur. As the primary or "first" assistant on C-sections (or most surgeries in general), your job is to move everything to make the surgeon's line-of-sight as optimal as possible. Whether that means pulling a flap of skin back, holding a light, or literally pulling someone's abdominal muscles apart, your job is to make the surgeon see what they need to see.

So that's what I did.

As I've said, I just recently finished two months on surgery. I've seen tons of procedures, from the a basic gallbladder removal to the most precise microvascular repair of facial arterial vessels during a facial reconstruction following removal of a golf-ball sized tumor in a patient's jaw. This procedure, more than any other, absolutely took my breath away.

Part of the shock was the rapidity of the delivery. Once a few key incisions are made mere minutes into the procedure, the baby is instantly ready to come out. I was just getting acquainted with the tools we were using to spread the skin, etc. when suddenly I was looking into the amniotic sac (a pool of fluid around the baby). Next thing I knew, the doctor was telling me to push on the mother's stomach. The instant I pushed, a small tuft of hair appeared in the area we'd opened up. I pushed a little harder, and an entire head emerged. Ten seconds later, there's a newborn infant lying next to my hand on the table, taking in it's first breath and letting out an all-too-adorable first cry on this planet.

It's definitely one of those experiences that's very hard to put into writing because of the sheer sensory overload of the moment. If you have any interest in knowing more specifically what happens in a C-section, this video right here can help give you an actual idea.

Having my very first delivery be via C-section was absolutely eye-opening. The relative ferocity of the techniques used are alarming at first, but I've realized quickly that that's ultimately the nature of childbirth in general. Most importantly, though, I found that being a contributing member of the team tasked with bringing a child into the world for the first time in their lives was supremely gratifying, and I'm immensely thankful for the opportunity I had to take that in today. I certainly won't forget it anytime soon.