Jesse Bennett (July 10, 1769 – July 13, 1842) was the first American physician to perform a successful
Caesarean section
Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...
, which he performed on his own wife at the birth of their only child on January 14, 1794.
Biography
Early life
Bennett was born in
Frankford, Philadelphia
Frankford is a neighborhood in the Northeast Philadelphia, Northeast section of Philadelphia situated about six miles (10 km) northeast of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City. Although its borders are vaguely defined, the neighborhood is ...
, on July 13, 1769. He earned a B.A. Degree at Philadelphia College before apprenticing with
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...
and attending medical school. In April 1791, he received the title Doctor of Medicine, at the same time he received his M. A. degree. Bennett married Elizabeth Hogg in 1793 and settled in Rockingham County,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, establishing his practice in a log cabin. When Elizabeth became pregnant, Bennett engaged a Dr. Humphrey of Staunton, Virginia, to attend Elizabeth at the delivery.
Caesarean section
After Elizabeth had endured a
prolonged labor
Prolonged labor is the inability of a woman to proceed with childbirth upon going into labor. Prolonged labor typically lasts over 20 hours for first time mothers, and over 14 hours for women that have already had children. Failure to progress can ...
, Humphrey and Bennett determined the only options were a
Caesarean section
Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...
on Elizabeth or a
craniotomy
A craniotomy is a surgery, surgical operation in which a bone flap is temporarily removed from the Human skull, skull to access the Human brain, brain. Craniotomies are often critical operations, performed on patients who are suffering from brain ...
on the unborn infant. Humphrey refused to do anything, feeling that either operation meant certain death for both the mother and her infant. It appears Humphrey then left the Bennett home.
Desperate to save her child, Elizabeth begged her husband to perform the Caesarian section. Bennett assembled a crude operating table from two boards supported by barrels. Bennett gave his wife
laudanum
Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine). Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum'') in alcohol (ethanol).
Reddish-br ...
to make her sleepy and had two enslaved African-American people support her on the table while Elizabeth's sister, Mrs. Hawkins, held a tallow candle to light the makeshift
operating table
An operating table, sometimes called operating room table, is the table on which the patient lies during a surgical operation.
Bennett cut his wife's abdomen with a single sweep of his knife and extracted his infant daughter, Maria. He then removed both of Elizabeth's ovaries, saying he'd "not be subjected to such an ordeal again." Finally he sutured the surgical wound with stout linen thread, the kind used in frontier homes to sew heavy clothing.
Elizabeth recovered and was able to be up a month later (see
postpartum confinement
Postpartum confinement is a traditional practice following childbirth. Those who follow these customs typically begin immediately after the birth, and the seclusion or special treatment lasts for a culturally variable length: typically for one mo ...
). Bennett declared his wife healed as of March 1, 1794, writing a cryptic case history on the title page of one of his medical books. Elizabeth Bennett lived for thirty-six more years, passing away on April 20, 1830. Maria Bennett lived until 1870, married twice, and bore six children.
Bennett refused to publicize the details of the surgery during his life. He said other doctors would never believe that a woman could survive this hazardous operation, done in the backwoods of Virginia, and he was "damned if he'd give them a chance to call him a liar."
The Bennetts moved to West Virginia and Dr. Bennett started a large practice there.
Because Bennett didn't report the operation during his life, it was long believed the first successful American Caesarian section had been performed in 1827 by John Lambert in Ohio - coincidentally, only ten miles from Bennett's practice.
A. L. Knight, a boyhood neighbor of the Bennetts, remembered hearing the details of Maria's birth when he was a youth. Knight collected eye-witness testimonies from Mrs. Hawkins and the surviving African-American slaves after Bennett's death and published the story in '' The Southern Historical Magazine'' in 1892 as part of "The Life and Times of Dr. Jesse Bennett, M.D."
Later life
Bennett became active in civic affairs in the newly formed Mason County (now Mason County, West Virginia). He was appointed Major of the Mason County Militia in 1804 and represented Mason County in the Virginia Assembly.
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...
reportedly tried to enlist Bennett's help with the
Burr conspiracy
The Burr conspiracy of 1805-1807, was a treasonous plot alleged to have been planned by American politician and former military officer Aaron Burr (1756-1836), in the years during and after his single term as the third Vice President of the Unite ...
for which Burr was charged with treason. Bennett refused to assist Aaron Burr and went on to serve the United States as an Army Surgeon in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
.
Memorials
Bennett's accomplishment is noted in two historical markers, one (calling him "Jessee Bennett") erected in 1983 by Virginia near the site of the operation in
Edom
Edom (; Edomite language, Edomite: ; , lit.: "red"; Akkadian language, Akkadian: , ; Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Jordan and Israel. Edom and the Edomi ...
and one erected by West Virginia, in 1973, near the site of his original burial. He was initially interred in the Bennett-Knopp Cemetery in Point Pleasant, West Virginia; his remains, along with those of his wife and a friend, were moved, with their original marker, to that town's Pioneer Cemetery in 1985.