[The first cesarean section in Norway].

The first reported caesarean section in Norway was performed on 20 August 1843 by a general practitioner, Lars Thalian Backer (1812-84). The operation took place in Lardal, Vestfold County, on a 27 year old woman who had been in labour for six days. The outcome was disastrous; she was delivered of stillborn twins and died 2 1/2 days after the operation. In the 19th century, infection, bleeding and thromboembolic disease made caesarean section a dangerous operation, and only 26 such operations are known in Norway, most of them performed outside hospitals. The first caesarean section in Norway resulting in a living child was performed in 1849, but no mother survived the operation before 1890. We recapitulate the caesarean section of 1843; Dr Backer and his qualifications for operative obstetrics; and the state of instrumental and surgical obstetrics in Norway at that time.