Woman succeeds at self-Caesarean

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SAN PABLO, Mexico, April 7 (UPI) -- A Mexican peasant woman successfully gave herself a Caesarean section, the BBC reported Wednesday.

Dr. R. Valle, of the Dr. Manuel Velasco Suarez Hospital in San Pablo, Mexico, described the unidentified 40-year-old woman's ordeal in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. It is believed to be the first case known to medical history in which the self-operation was a success.

"She took three small glasses of hard liquor and, using a kitchen knife, sliced her abdomen in three attempts and delivered a male infant that breathed immediately and cried," Valle wrote.

"Before losing consciousness, the woman told one of her children to call a local nurse for help."

After the nurse stitched the wound with a sewing needle and cotton thread, the mother and baby made an 8-hour journey to be treated by Valle at the hospital.

He said the woman performed the operation when she could not deliver the baby naturally. She had lost a previous baby due to labor complications.