Caesarian section and respiratory distress
12 October 2005
Caesarian section rates in countries like Australia are soaring. Once maybe
one in 10 babies were born by section whereas these days it can be as high as
one in two. There are various questionable reasons for this, one being the
babys safety.
The reality for the baby though, is that being born by
caesarean section is unnatural and theres a higher rate of respiratory
distress. Its thought that its maybe because the baby doesnt experience the
stress of labour (mind you nor does the mother).
Anyway, a UK group has
done a trial involving mothers at term in other words 37 weeks or more -
giving them steroids just before an elective caesarean section to see whether as
with pre-term babies, steroids might prevent respiratory problems.
They
found that steroids did reduce the risk of the baby being admitted to a special
care unit with respiratory problems but the reduction also occurred by just
delaying the section till the mother was at least 39 weeks. So if thats
possible it should be considered.
For reference
Steer PJ. Giving steroids before elective caesarean section. British Medical
Journal 2005;331:645-646 Stutchfield P et al. Antenatal
betamethasone and incidence of neonatal respiratory distress after elective
caesarean section: pragmatic randomised trial. British Medical
Journal 2005;331:662-664
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