[abtinf]

Especially remarkable considering the >80% mortality rate for mothers until the 20th century.

"Unfortunately, surgical techniques of that day also contributed to the appallingly high maternal mortality rates. According to one estimate not a single woman survived cesarean section in Paris between 1787 and 1876."

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/cesarean/part2.html

[kirsebaer]

The problem with c-sections was figuring out how to successfully sew up the uterus afterwards. In 1876 doctors started just removing the uterus after c-section.

The woman who gave herself a c-section was able to get medical care soon afterwards. Otherwise she certainly would have died from the wound.