The initial response sounds horrifying, but it’s not quite as horrible as it appears (but it’s still bad)! Chainsaws were initially designed and utilized to assist women in giving birth. A hand-cranked chainsaw with fine cutting teeth was used to cut through her cartilage and ligaments to bring the baby out if she was delivering a baby in the breech position, or if the baby was just ‘too big’ or stuck.’ Consider this: prior to the widespread usage of caesarian procedures, all babies had to be delivered via the birth canal. These devices were sometimes required. You may not want to continue reading after hearing this, but that was the chainsaw’s original function!
Why Were Chainsaws Invented?
The first chainsaw:
The image of a modern chainsaw in an operating theatre sprang to us when we first learned that the chainsaw was invented to aid in delivery. Imagine your physician entering the delivery room with one of Stihl’s most powerful chainsaws revving. If this were the truth, I’m confident that seeing and hearing the chainsaw would induce labour in any woman, regardless of how stuck the baby was! However, as you can see in the first chainsaw’s picture, it’s nothing like the chainsaws we used for cutting firewood and down trees. It resembles a huge knife with a chain attached.
Before utilizing this primitive chainsaw, doctors would not have needed to wear chainsaw chaps or other safety equipment.
Chainsaw Childbirth
While the medical chainsaw designed by Scottish surgeons John Aitken and James Jeffrey shows little similarity to the chainsaws we use today, it was inspired by it. Chainsaws were created to assist with delivery, but how were they used? Symphysiotomy was the operation, which is characterized as “an outmoded surgical treatment in which the cartilage of the pubic symphysis is separated to enlarge the pelvis and facilitate childbirth when there is a mechanical difficulty.” Many people who had the procedure described it as “a slaughter.” It was genuinely carried on in Ireland until recently. Many women were brutalized (the term “torture” has been used) as a result of the practice, which left them unable to walk after childbirth and had other long-term repercussions.
Problems that may need the use of a chainsaw during labour include:
- When the baby is born breech, it comes out feet first.
- Both mom and baby are at risk when their shoulders are stuck.
- The head of the infant fails to pass through the delivery canal — this can happen for a variety of reasons.
- The technique was previously performed without anaesthetic and could result in bone fractures. The treatment became increasingly popular after anaesthetic was introduced.
Thankfully, Cesarean sections have replaced the chainsaw in childbirth nowadays.
Instead of attempting to expand the pelvis, the infant is retrieved through a much smaller and less intrusive abdominal incision.
Who Invented The Chainsaw?
Two Scottish surgeons designed and utilized the first chainsaw in the 1780s.
John Aitken and James Jeffray were their names. They took inspiration from watch chain teeth that could be adjusted using a manual crank. Other surgical treatments that this chainsaw was employed for included removing sick bone, cutting out contaminated tissue, and amputating limbs. So, while the first chainsaw was utilized for medical purposes, much like Leatherface in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, we can be grateful that this is no longer the case. We might also be grateful that many creative and entrepreneurial people transformed this equipment into what we know and love today.
When Did They Stop Using Chainsaws For Childbirth?
In medical practice, the Gigli Saw has taken the position of the chainsaw. Although it had been improved throughout the 1700s, the use of a medical chainsaw in childbirth continued in the West until the late 1800s. When a cesarean is not possible, it is believed to still be utilized in some parts of the world today, however, the Gigli saw (shown above) has mostly replaced the use of the original medical chainsaws. Both the chainsaw and the Gigli saw were used to amputate limbs and dead flesh and bones, although their initial aim was to assist women who were having difficulty giving birth.
First Chainsaw Tik Tok Video
The first use of a chainsaw was documented in a viral TikTok video.
One of the reasons why ‘chainsaw invention’ and ‘why was the chainsaw invented’ became such a popular topic – and it’s easy to see why. Isn’t it true that the more horrifying something is, the more attracted we are to it? Especially if it happened in the past and is unlikely to happen again. A German doctor was also involved, according to this TikTok gentleman. He’s talking about a German orthopaedist named Bernhard Heine, who invented a new chainsaw in 1830.
Also, if you’re interested in learning more about the Black & Decker chainsaw featured on TikTok, do go ahead and explore for yourself. At the very least, we’d prefer this to a gas chainsaw in the operating room!
Lastly
We have rounded up the whole concept, right? Chainsaws were made for Childbirth! However, we are fortunate to live in somewhat more civilized times today.
This isn’t a comprehensive history of chainsaws, but it does explain how they were first used. If you enjoy learning about the history of ordinary things, especially garden products, we have a book recommendation for you. Check out George Drower’s Garden Heroes and Villains. He delves into the history of the chainsaw (both medicinal and garden applications) and its place in society.
