The Science and Art of Obstetrics: Laparotrachelotomy: Low Cervical Cesarean Section

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DATE: 1936

LENGTH: 35 min [edited from full length of 69 minutes]

CATEGORY: Educational & Instructional, Sound, Black & White, Clinical & Surgical

DIRECTOR: Joseph B. DeLee, M.D.

PRODUCER/PUBLISHER: Joseph B. DeLee, M.D., M. Edward Davis, M.D., Fox Movietone Scientific

Warning: The film contains explicit images of disease or intrusive medical treatment. Viewer discretion advised.

Summary

Dr. Joseph Bolivar DeLee, a founder in the late 1890s of the Chicago Lying-In Dispensary (for needy women) as well as the Chicago Lying-In Hospital, the model maternity center of its day, was at times called “the #1 obstetrician, USA.” DeLee also was a serious filmmaker dedicated to the visual explication of his obstetrical techniques. He acquired professional equipment, wrote scripts, improvised sound effects, and deployed as many as a dozen women over a period of hours and days if necessary to complete a movie precisely as he felt it should be. These films were intended to teach, persuade, and fundraise for the next one….Read the Essay

View another film featured in the essay.

The Science and Art of Obstetrics: The Forceps Operation and Episiotomy Repair

DATE: 1934
LENGTH: 36 min [edited from full length of 64 minutes]
PRODUCER/PUBLISHER: Chicago Lying-In Hospital
CATEGORY: Educational & Instructional, Clinical & Surgical, Sound, Black & White

Supplementary Materials

Film Stills from The Science and Art of Obstetrics: Laparotrachelotomy: Low Cervical Cesarean

Film still of people in surgical clothes filming an operation under bright lights.

Film still of a model of Near Corpus Uteri Thick Muscle.

Film still of intertitle reading Laparotrachelotomy Low, cervical cesarean section by Joseph B. DeLee, M.D. and M. Edward Davis, M.D.

Film still of DeLee pointing to a poster reading Mortality of Cesarean Section with data from three areas.

In the Collections of the National Library of Medicine

NLM Historical Audiovisuals Collection

Explore digitized films on obstetrics in the NLM Digital Collections

NLM Prints & Photographs Collection

Two illustrations on a page showing three different caesarean methods. Some French text visible at bottom: Traité, vol. 7, pl. 77. — Caesarean Methods, plate in *Traité complet de l’anatomie de l’homme*, 1832
*National Library of Medicine #101596989*

Engraving of nine different types of forceps. — Forceps, engraving in *Armamentarium chirurgicum bipartitum*, 1666
*National Library of Medicine #101435119*

An engraving of a surgeon and five attendants performing a caesarean section. — Caesarean Section, engraving in *Armamentarium chirurgicum bipartitum*, 1666
*National Library of Medicine #101435441*

NLM Rare Book Collection

Meddlesome Midwifery in Renaissance, by Joseph B. DeLee, ca. 1916

Scanned cover of a pamphlet with library markings.

“Joseph B. DeLee, A Eulogy” in Mother’s Aid of the Chicago Lying-in Hospital and Dispensary, April, 1942

Scan of a printed page with a black and white photographic portrait of a man attached.

First page of a publication featuring a eulogy for DeLee.

Scanned page of a eulogy for DeLee featuring images of a two hospitals.

Scanned page of a eulogy for DeLee featuring photographs of buildings and a group of women outdoors at a groundbreaking ceremony.

Scanned page of a eulogy for DeLee featuring an image of the Chicago Lying-in Hospital..

Preliminary Report of a Case of Caesarean Section, Successful for Mother and Child, by Joseph B. DeLee, 1896
View in NLM Digital Collections

Related Resources from the National Library of Medicine

Joseph DeLee in PubMed Central

Obituary, in Br Med J. 1942 Jun 6; 1(4248): 711.
Joseph B. DeLee and the practice of preventive obstetrics, in Am J Public Health. 1988 October; 78(10): 1353–1361.
More in PMC…

MedlinePlus Consumer Health Information

When might forceps or a caesarean section be used today?
How are childbirth complications handled?

External Resources

Articles and Websites

Learn more about the Chicago Lying-In Hospital founded by Joseph B. DeLee.
Explore a finding aid for the archival records of the Chicago Lying-in Hospital held at the University of Chicago.