900-year-old grave reveals caesarean attempt to save baby

A 900-year-old grave of a mother and her daughter shows signs of an attempted Caesarean operation, scientists said yesterday.

The 12th century grave - unearthed at Wharram Percy, England’s best preserved medieval village near Malton, North Yorkshire - held the remains of a 25- to 30-year-old woman with a baby between her thighs.

Analysis of the remains by English Heritage specialists showed that the woman died during her pregnancy, which was 10 weeks short of full-term, and the foetus was cut free from the womb in an attempt to save it.