Procedure in which an infant, rather than
being born vaginally, is surgically removed from the uterus. Also referred to as a C section. As the name Caesarian suggests,
this is not exactly a
new procedure. It was done in
ancient civilizations
upon the
death of a near-full-term pregnant
woman to salvage the child. Julius Caesar (or one of
his predecessors) was
born by
this procedure. Hence, the name Caesarian. The
term section in surgery refers to the
division of tissue. What is
being divided here is the
abdominal wall of the
mother as
well as the
wall of the
uterus in
order to
extract the child. In Shakespeare's Macbeth the Witches' prophecy was that..none of
woman born/ Shall harm Macbeth (IV.i). Unfortunately for Macbeth, the Scottish nobleman Macduff was from
his mother's womb/ Untimely ripped. And
thus not naturally
born of
woman (V.vii). Macduff was the only
agent capable of destroying Macbeth. He killed Macbeth in battle.