Imagine you’re in the midst of a grueling childbirth, and the doctor walks in with a chainsaw. No, it’s not a horror movie plot—though it might sound like one. Incredibly, chainsaws were once invented not for felling trees or clearing land, but to assist in the most delicate of human experiences: childbirth.
Let’s rewind to the late 18th century, a time when medical practices were about as advanced as your great-grandma’s herbal remedies. Back then, childbirth was a perilous ordeal for many women, and medical tools were rudimentary at best. Enter the chainsaw, but not the modern, gas-powered beast you’d expect. Instead, we’re talking about an early, hand-cranked model designed for a very specific purpose.
The original chainsaw was created by Scottish doctors John Aitken and James Jeffrey, and it wasn’t made for clearing forests or pruning hedges. No, it was intended to assist in the process of symphysiotomy, a surgical procedure used to widen the birth canal to help deliver babies who were stuck in the birth canal.
Symphysiotomy involved cutting through the pubic symphysis, the joint that connects the two halves of the pelvis. Now, performing this operation with traditional tools like scalpels and bone saws was not only challenging but risky, so Aitken and Jeffrey thought, “Why not make a tool that’s more efficient and less likely to make things worse?” And thus, the chainsaw was born.
This early chainsaw had a chain with teeth, similar to the chainsaws we see today, but it was designed to cut through bone rather than wood. The tool was hand-powered, requiring the doctor to crank it manually, and it wasn’t exactly what you’d call “user-friendly.” It was large, cumbersome, and, to be honest, a bit frightening if you were the one lying on the operating table.
The idea was that the chainsaw could make the process quicker and less cumbersome, thus hopefully making childbirth safer. In practice, however, it turned out that this tool was not as effective as its creators had hoped. The complexities and dangers of the procedure meant that symphysiotomy—and consequently, the chainsaw—faded from use as medical science advanced and safer methods of childbirth were developed.
Fast forward to the 20th century, and chainsaws underwent a dramatic transformation. The invention of the gasoline-powered chainsaw by Andreas Stihl in the 1920s marked the beginning of their widespread use for cutting trees and clearing land. The same tool that was once intended to facilitate childbirth was now used to turn forests into lumber and clear land for development.
It’s a fascinating twist of history that the chainsaw—now a symbol of lumberjack strength and outdoor ruggedness—has roots in the quest to make childbirth safer. So, the next time you see a chainsaw, remember its peculiar origin story. It’s not just a tool for chopping down trees; it’s a relic of a time when medical science was trying to innovate in the most unexpected ways. And while the chainsaw’s use in childbirth might seem like a bizarre chapter in its history, it’s a testament to the lengths humans will go to improve their lives—no matter how unexpected the solutions might be.
