We’ve all heard a story or two about moms and their superhuman strength. Women are warriors, there is no doubt about it. Millions of babies are born every year, and birth doesn’t always go as planned. Sometimes labor comes on so quickly that moms have no choice but to deliver right where they are. But when we hear those stories, we automatically assume vaginal birth, right? But that’s not always the case. Inés Ramíez, a mom of nine living in Mexico, performed a C-section on herself and welcomed a healthy baby boy. It’s positively terrifying and incredible at the same time.
The International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics originally documented Ramíez story in 2003, and Dr. Shannon M. Clark recently shared it on Instagram. When Ramíez was in labor with her eighth child, a complication arose, and he did not descend through the birth canal. Sadly, this ended in stillbirth.
Ramíez lived in a very remote area, and when it was time to give birth to baby number nine, she had to make a drastic move. There were no adults around to help, and she felt labor stalling like it had with her previous baby.
Ramíez had seen many animals slaughtered and used that technique, along with three shots of hard liquor, to perform a C-section on herself.
“She did a right paramedian incision vertically to gain access to her abdomen, so likely she entered somewhere near the midline between the rectus muscles, and then she cut her uterus in the same direction and delivered the male fetus,” Clark explained on Instagram.
“She didn’t report a lot of bleeding, but having done these a gajillion times, incisions that are up and down, either right to the side of the belly button, or above it, or below it, actually do not bleed very much because you get right in between those rectus muscles, and you avoid a lot of vessels that way,” she added.
Ramíez ultimately wound up at a hospital, where doctors repaired her uterus, and she had minimal scarring.
People in Clark’s comment section could not believe the story.
“As someone who has seen many c/s, this has my jaw on the floor,” someone shared. “Women are EXTRAORDINARY.”
This person nailed it right on the head, writing, “I don’t think three shots of liquor would be enough, but, man, what a legend.”
“At 39 weeks pregnant I have to mentally prep myself just to get up from laying on the couch. Absolutely not,” an honest mom-to-be wrote.
We’re not sure how this hasn’t become a major motion picture by now because the story is absolutely incredible. Bless this mom for knowing her own body and putting mind over matter to bring her child safely into the world. She’s an icon and a total baddie.
