MODEL RELEASED. Caesarean section (Image 3 of 14). Surgeons locating the baby's head during a caesarean section birth. Surgical tubing is seen at bottom centre. 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. 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. This is an elective caesarean section. This view is part of image sequence M810/282-295.