Chapter 44

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"Madam, what is your name?"

In a temporary glass house set up next to the palace in Windsor Castle, Dr. Zhu put on his white coat and rubber gloves. He took a bright surgical knife from a court lady who had temporarily become a nurse, and smiled at a pregnant woman lying, or rather, tied to the operating table.

"Sir, my name is Mary." The pregnant woman was very young, not particularly beautiful, with red hair and blue eyes, and many freckles on her nose—she looked like an Irish woman. In fact, she was a test subject that Will Heming had hired from the Little Ireland district of Manchester for a few pounds.

Because Her Majesty Queen Victoria wanted to witness the legendary cesarean section surgery. Although she was unwilling to have a cut on her noble belly, she was even more unwilling to die in childbirth, as she so loved the British people under her rule...

Now, Her Majesty and Prince Albert were sitting side by side on two chairs outside the glass house, their brown eyes wide open, their faces full of curiosity and excitement. This was the first time Her Majesty had seen a live human being cut open! And... it was said that after the cesarean section, the belly could be sewn up with needles and thread, and within a week, the woman tied to the operating table could hop back to the slums of Manchester to continue her suffering.

In contrast, Prince Albert was somewhat nervous, his lips pale, his brows tightly furrowed. It was unclear whether he was worried about the woman about to be cut or about his own wife who was about to give birth. If today's surgery demonstration were successful, the likelihood of Her Majesty dying in childbirth would be greatly reduced.

"Madam, there's no need to be afraid, it's just a small operation." Dr. Zhu smiled and comforted the woman who had offered her belly for a few pounds—she was not a woman in labor, but rather someone who had taken a risk due to her family's dire poverty.

"Sir, is the chloroform ready?" Dr. Zhu turned to ask his assistant and anesthetist, Sir Reed, who was the Reed of the Royal Medical Society, the Queen's court physician, and Dr. Zhu's first student. Compared to the safety of Her Majesty, his personal grudges with Dr. Zhu were nothing. If he lacked this awareness, how could he be a court physician?

In fact, historically, Sir Reed was a very responsible court physician, especially knowledgeable in obstetrics and pediatrics. The fact that Queen Victoria was so fertile, and that all nine of her children grew up safely, was the best proof.

"It's ready, sir," Sir Reed said respectfully.

Chloroform was the focus of current research in British medical anesthesia. Dr. Zhu, who had little experience with surgical anesthesia, followed Sir Reed's advice and used chloroform, along with morphine hydrochloride for auxiliary and postoperative anesthesia.

Dr. Zhu nodded and said to the pregnant woman, whose eyes were wide open and face full of fear, "Madam, my assistant, Sir Reed, will give you some chloroform to inhale. After that, you won't feel anything. When you wake up, your baby will have been born."

"Really?" the pregnant woman asked tremulously.

"Really, I swear to God," Dr. Zhu said, though he didn't believe in God, he often invoked His name.

"Alright, I'm ready..." The pregnant woman's tears finally couldn't be held back.

"Sir, give her the chloroform," Dr. Zhu knew he was soft-hearted and couldn't bear to see women cry, so he quickly had Sir Reed anesthetize the pregnant woman. He then began the cesarean section. First, he had the nurse repeatedly wipe the pregnant woman's belly with iodine, then made an incision with the surgical knife at the correct position, found the uterus, and cut it open... He safely removed the baby and handed it to the nurse to clean, and finally, he taught Sir Reed how to stitch the wound.

This surgery was not considered major in the future, and Dr. Zhu had performed it many times at the Omen Hospital, so he was quite experienced. However, to the two spectators, it was nothing short of miraculous. The Queen was particularly excited and, during lunch with Dr. Zhu, she couldn't stop talking about her impressions.

"...It's amazing, a child can be born this way! Cutting open the mother's belly... Oh, the mother really won't feel any pain, right?"

"No pain, and she will continue to use morphine hydrochloride for five days after the surgery. By then, her wound will be completely healed, and she won't feel any pain anymore," Dr. Zhu said.

"Amazing!" The Queen clapped her hands, turned to Prince Albert, and looked at him with twinkling eyes, "Dear Albert, do you know how painful childbirth is?"

Prince Albert smiled wryly, "Dear Alexandrina, cesarean section surgery does carry some risks." He looked at Dr. Zhu, "Jason, isn't that right?"

"Yes, there are indeed some risks."

The Queen pouted, "Jason, in what situations should this risky method be used to deliver the baby?"

"Malpresentation, where the baby's feet are down or lying sideways in the uterus, or if the position is too low, a cesarean section should be used. Additionally, if the amniotic fluid becomes cloudy during labor, it usually means the baby may be at risk of suffocation."

"Suffocation?" The Queen looked at Dr. Zhu curiously, "Jason, do you mean the baby breathes inside my belly? How does that happen? Is there air inside?"

"Through the amniotic fluid, the baby breathes in the water," Dr. Zhu thought uncertainly, "I'm inadvertently contributing to the advancement of European medicine in 1843."

"Breathing in water? Just like fish!" the Queen exclaimed.

"Um, indeed, that's how the Creator arranged it, but the baby will quickly lose this ability after birth," Dr. Zhu tried to explain.

"I see." The Queen didn't press further, but Prince Albert noted Dr. Zhu's views and later had experts from the Royal Medical Society study the matter.

"Jason, I heard your pharmaceutical factory is located in Manchester?" Prince Albert sipped his whisky, "Is the factory setup going smoothly?"

"Yes, very smoothly," Dr. Zhu said, "Not just the pharmaceutical factory, but also a rubber products factory."

"Rubber products?"

"Like this," Dr. Zhu took a pair of rubber gloves from his pocket and handed them to Prince Albert. "These gloves are made of rubber. Additionally, rubber can be used for carriage wheels, shoes, and condoms."

"Condoms?" the Queen interjected.

"Condoms... are worn on the male organ to prevent semen from entering the woman's body, achieving contraception, though it's not 100% safe."

"That's a pretty good invention," the Queen blushed and glanced at Prince Albert, "I think many people will need this. By the way, is this product already on sale?"

"It's already being supplied to pharmacies, but the demand isn't high," Dr. Zhu thought, in this era, there was no concept of "adult products," and the shopkeepers didn't recognize this item, so condoms could only be sold in British pharmacies, and sales were far from meeting expectations.

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