Caesarean section. Surgeons grasping a baby's head and pulling it out of its mother's uterus. Caesarean sections are usually performed when it is impossible or dangerous to deliver the baby vaginally. The baby is delivered through an incision in the walls of the abdomen, uterus and amniotic sac, which surrounds it during pregnancy. The mother may be given a general anaesthetic or a local anaesthetic (epidural) that numbs the pain but allows her to remain conscious during the birth.