Results from a new study examining the safety of elective cesarean deliveries found an increase in infant mortality. The results were published in the September issue of Birth.
The rate of c-section delivery has dramatically increased over the last decade, without a subsequent increase in maternal or neonatal complications. One of the reasons for this increase is the growing number of women who choose a cesarean delivery even though they would be a perfect candidate for vaginal delivery.
The lead researchers had noticed an increase in infant mortality associated with cesarean delivery. In order to establish if the increase was due to the surgery alone, or other factors associated with health of newborn, infant mortality rates in elective cesareans was reviewed.
A total of 5.8 million infants born to mother’s who chose an elective c-section were used for the analysis. Infant death rate in the first 28 days was determined and compared to equally matched vaginal deliveries.
The neonatal death rate was 1.77 per 1000 live births for those infants born to mother’s who chose a cesarean delivery. This is more than double the rate of 0.62 deaths per 1000 live births delivered vaginally.
The researchers analyzed the data to look for any confounding variables that may have caused the significant difference in neonatal mortality, but could only determine the difference to be the elective c-section.
This study should be presented to women as evidence of the risk of cesarean on their newborn child. It may be information enough to convince women with no other risk factors to opt for a vaginal birth.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on September 17, 2006 02:57 PM
