Even though women have been birthing babies since, well, the beginning of humankind, labor was especially difficult before modern medical advancements such as antibiotics, anesthesia and hygiene practices like hand-washing.

When a woman suffered complications during labor, it could be life-threatening. A caesarian section was rarely considered because it was thought dangerous to both the mother and child because of the high risk of infection. So, doctors were forced to try alternative methods.

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In the 1770s, French medical doctor Jean-René Sigault came up with a possible solution to delivering babies stuck in the birth canal. Sigault was inspired by the writings of Severin Pineau, a French surgeon in the late 1500s who had described a "diastasis of the pubis" (separation or dislocation of the pubic symphysis or joint) in a pregnant woman who was hanged.

Sigault's idea was to surgically separate the pelvic joint to create a larger opening in the pelvis. If it was successful, it would allow the baby to pass through the birth canal.

In October 1777, Sigault and his assistant Alphonse le Roy tested the method on the first patient. Madame Souchot was a 40-year-old woman with a contracted pelvis due to rickets that prevented her from delivering vaginally. She'd already lost four babies, and the medical community thought she had no chance of bearing live children without a caesarian section. But, a cesarean section would have likely killed her.

With little to lose, Sigault cut through Souchot's pubic joint, successfully performing the first so-called symphysiotomy. Both the mother and baby's life were saved, and symphysiotomies soon became routine for women experiencing obstructed labor.