Jesse Bennett
| Dr. Jesse Bennett | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 13, 1769 Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | July 10, 1842 (aged 72) Mason County, West Virginia |
| Education | Philadelphia College |
| Known for | Performing the first-known Caesarean operation in North America while living in present-day Virginia in 1794. |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Physician |
Dr. Jesse Bennett (July 10, 1769 —July 13, 1842) was the first American physician to perform a successful Caesarean section, which he performed on his own wife at the birth of their only child on January 14, 1794.
Bennett was born in Frankford, Philadelphia, on July 13, 1769. He earned a B.A. Degree at Philadelphia College before apprenticing with Dr. Benjamin Rush and attending Medical School. In April 1791, he received the title Doctor of Medicine, at the same time he received his M. A. degree. Dr. Bennett married Miss Elizabeth Hogg in 1793 and settled in Rockingham County, Virginia, 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.
After Elizabeth had endured a prolonged labor, Dr. Humphrey and Bennett determined the only options were a Caesarean section on Elizabeth or a craniotomy on the unborn infant. Dr. Humphrey refused to do anything, feeling that either operation meant certain death for both the mother and her infant. It appears Dr. Humphrey then left the Bennett home.
Desperate to save her child, Elizabeth begged her husband to perform the Caesarian section. Dr. Bennett assembled a crude operating table from two boards supported by barrels. Dr. Bennett gave his wife laudanum to make her sleepy and had two negro servants support her on the table while Elizabeth's sister, Mrs. Hawkins, held a tallow candle to light the operating table.
Dr. 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. Dr. 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.
Dr. 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."
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