EN
Polynesian mythology is notable for several brief allusions to what is usually termed Caesarean birth. The sense of this operation does not consist in saving both mother and child but seems to be provoked by unsatisfactory knowledge of the operation that preferred the life of a newborn child at the expense of that of its mother. According to the legend, the innovation seems to have been brought from outside by Kae to the Marquesas and received favourably there.