The real story behind that gritty scene from House of the Dragon.

Dragon House comes to HBO Max stomps. In the first chapter, we have already seen several scenes that show us the brutality with which violence will be presented in the series. First of all, it affects the delivery queen emmawife King Viserys I. And it is that, although it was never called as such, it represents what it should have been C-section in his beginnings. That is, without anesthesia, without hygiene measures and almost without knowledge on this topic. But was it like that in real life?

It’s clear that Dragon Househow Game of Thrones, is a fictional story, with many fantasy elements. But at some points, the harsh reality of past times is also presented. Actually it is said that George R. R. Martin he used some real episodes of history to come up with his famous story about the struggle for power. Indeed, in matters of health one can see some characteristic procedures medieval times. For example, in this first chapter we are talking about bloodletting or cauterization of wounds. As for the caesarean section, it has its real part and its fictitious part.

It is true that the first caesarean sections were performed without anesthesia and hygiene measures. And also that they might have been as bloody as Queen Emma’s. However, the big difference is that in the past, such an intervention was first performed in exceptional cases, when the mother died during childbirth or even earlier. Much later, he began to take control of the living mother; but, as in Dragon HouseThey usually die. First documented caesarean section in which both mother and child survived happened in 1500. But, curiously, it was not a doctor who conducted it, but a pig breeder. Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction, although that’s not always a good thing.

Caesarean section throughout history

In Rome 8th century BCthere was a law that forbade the burial of dead pregnant women without first removing the child through an incision in the abdominal cavity. The goal was mainly bury them separately. However, in cases where the pregnancy was very late, it could happen that the baby was born alive. It wouldn’t be the most common, but it could happen. In fact, legend has it that Julius Caesar was born that way, hence his name, although this seems to be nothing more than a myth. It is known that children born by caesarean section were known as Seasons. So there must have been enough living babies.

But you’ll have to travel much further back to find the first documented caesarean section in a living woman. It was exactly the one pig castrator Jacob Nuffer who performed this first operation on his wife Isabelle, whose labor became too difficult after a few hours. At that time there was no anesthesia as we know it today, so at best he must have used some mixture of opiate plants. As for the tools he used the razor he used to shave the pigs.

Despite everything, the woman and child survived and, in fact, she there were up to five successful births after. Therefore, she can also be considered the first woman to give birth through the natural birth canal after a caesarean section.

After this successful intervention, some surgeons dared to repeat the procedure in a slightly more surgical environment, albeit far removed from today’s operating rooms. However, they very high mortalityboth immediately and a few days later due to sepsis, led to it falling into disuse and only being used in a few cases where labor was so difficult that the woman died anyway.

Only in the 18th century they began to be held with some regularity and with somewhat greater success. And especially in the 19th century, when the use of anesthesia was introduced and hygiene measures were further improved, survival rates reached much higher rates. As an anecdote, it can be noted here that one of the first doctors who used anesthesia, although it had nothing to do with caesarean section, was an Englishman John Snowwho should not be confused with the lost Targaryen Jon Snow.

The Case of the House of the Dragon

In the first chapter of Dragon Housethe maester delivering Queen Emma tells the king of a new intervention which starts happening in the Citadel. Explains what it is to take the child on abdominal incision. However, remember that this means with a high probability the death of the mother. Hence, this forces him to choose which of the two he prefers in order to survive.

No doubt this should have been a warning in the first caesarean sections that were performed on living women, as it was very difficult for them to tell live about it. As for the intervention, anesthesia is not used. However, shortly before they begin, the maester explains to Viserys that they used poppy milkbut if they give more, it could be dangerous for the baby. It is an opiate substance that appears many times in Martin’s novels and is, generally speaking, not far from the herbal mixtures used in first caesarean sections.

Finally, the horrific procedure can also resemble a caesarean section when not enough knowledge about it yet. It is therefore not surprising that Queen Emma, ​​caught off guard by the intervention, is killed in the attempt.