Caesareans & A Scandalous Doctor on BBC Talkback

On Monday 16th February 2026 I had a great time chatting with William Crawley on Radio Ulster Talkback ahead of my Call the Midwife! event for the NI Science Festival.

Caesareans have a long and tragic history as for centuries it was impossible for the mother to survive such an operation. From the 16th century, there are a few reports of successful Caesareans but these reports are difficult to substantiate. Take Jacob Nufer, a Swiss pig-gelder who reportedly performed a Caesarean on his wife Elisabeth around 1500. Elisabeth apparently made a full recovery, had several children afterwards (all born vaginally) and the baby lived into his 70s. However, this was only reported over 80 years later! So Jacob, Elisabeth and their children were all deceased by then and the story must have been heard second- or even third-hand.

Dr James Barry’s Caesarean in 1826 is claimed as the first Caesarean because it was the first we can officially confirm. It was recorded at the time and mentioned by more than one source. Barry may not have been the first, but he is the first we can prove.

African medicine was vastly different from the Western education Barry enjoyed in Edinburgh and it may be that he learned a lot from the indigenous medicine while he was stationed in South Africa. It is here he performed the Caesarean on Wilhelmina Munnik and both mother and son survived.

Listen here to my chat with William about Ceasareans and the shocking secret of Dr James Barry.

Dr James Barry