[ozmidwifery] C/S again

[Mary Murphy]

Low-risk cesareans carry increased neonatal mortality risk Source: Birth 2006; Not yet available online Examining infant and neonatal mortality among women with no indication of medical risks or complications who undergo a primary cesarean delivery. Low-risk mothers who opt for a cesarean face a higher risk of infant and neonatal mortality than those who deliver vaginally, researchers report. "These findings should be of concern for clinicians and policy makers who are observing the rapid growth in the number of primary cesareans to mothers without a medical indication," said Marian McDorman, who led the study. The team, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, analyzed data on more than 5.7 million live births and 12,000 infant deaths over a 4-year period. The researchers focused on women with a singleton full-term gestation and no indicated medical risks or complications. They found that, overall, infants born to these low-risk women had a low incidence of neonatal death, at about one in 1000 live births. However, further analysis showed that those delivered by cesarean section had twice the risk of death as those delivered vaginally. This is worrying because the overall rate of cesarean delivery rose by 41 percent between 1996 and 2004 in the USA, while the incidence in women with no indication for cesarean almost doubled. Posted: 31 August 2006 © Current Medicine Group 2006