GC: n

S: HMS – http://cort.as/nCi2 (last access: 18 October 2016); MEDLP – http://cort.as/nCi3 (last access: 16 October 2016).

N: 1. “Caesarean”: 1923, shortening of Caesarian section (1610s); supposedly from Caius Julius Caesar, who was said to have been delivered surgically, thus legend traces his cognomen to Latin caesus past participle of caedere “to cut”. 
But if this is the etymology of the name, it was likely an ancestor who was so born (Caesar’s mother lived to see his triumphs and such operations would have been fatal to the woman in ancient times). And Pliny, 1st century AD, derives his cognomen from caesaries ”head of hair,” because the future dictator was born with a full one. Caesarian section may come directly from caesus.
“section”: late 14 century, “intersection of two straight lines; division of a scale;” from Old French “section” or directly from Latin sectionem “a cutting, cutting off, division,” noun of action from past participle stem of secare ”to cut”.
2. The term “Caesarean” might be an eponym, deriving from Gaius Julius Caesar.
3. The first documented Cesarean section on a living woman was performed in 1610; she died 25 days after the surgery. Abdominal delivery was subsequently tried in many ways and under many conditions, but it almost invariably resulted in the death of the mother from sepsis (infection) or hemorrhage (bleeding). Even in the first half of the 19th century, the recorded mortality was about 75 percent, and fetal craniotomy — in which the life of the child is sacrificed to save that of the mother — was usually preferred. Eventually, however, improvements in surgical techniques, antibiotics, and blood transfusion and antiseptic procedures so reduced the mortality that Cesarean section came to be frequently performed as an alternative to normal childbirth. In modern obstetrical care, Cesarean section usually is performed when the life of either the mother or the child would be endangered by attempting normal delivery.
4. Since 1985, the International Healthcare Community has considered the ideal rate for Caesarean sections to be between 10-15%. Since then, Caesarean sections have become increasingly common in both developed and developing countries. When medically necessary, a Caesarean section can effectively prevent maternal and newborn mortality.
5. The term can be written with different spellings: “Cesarean section”, “Caesarean section”, “Caesarian section” or with the abbreviation “C-section”, all either with capital letter “C” or lower case letter “c”.
6. CS is the abbreviation for Cesarean section in the field of Gynaecology.

S: 1. OED – http://cort.as/nCiC (last access: 16 October 2016). 2. Alpha – http://cort.as/nCib (last access: 16 October 2016); NHS – http://cort.as/nCii (last access: 16 October 2016). 3. EncBritGB – http://cort.as/nCiC (last access: 16 October 2016). 4. WHO – http://cort.as/nCiL (last access: 16 October 2016). 5. EncBritGB – http://cort.as/nCiR (last access: 16 October 2016); OED – http://cort.as/nCiC (last access: 16 October 2016). 6. COSNAUTAS (last access: 21 October 2016)

SYN: abdominal delivery, surgical birth, surgical delivery.

S: OT – http://cort.as/nCik (last access: 20 October 2016)

CR: abortion, afterpains, fetus, pregnancy.