Cesarean deliveries have not been considered damaging or risky to a new born’s health, but new research is beginning to overturn that assumption. A good example is preterm babies that are small for their gestational age.
Erika F. Werner, MD, MS, assistant professor of Maternal Fetal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, made the research along with Heather S. Lipkind, MD, MS, assistant professor of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. The scientists reviewed birth certificate and hospital discharge information for 2,560 small for gestational age babies who were delivered preterm.
C-sections are often performed for babies diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction who are not growing adequately in the womb. Dr. Werner and her team found that small for gestational age babies delivered by a c-section before 34 weeks of pregnancy had 30 percent higher odds of developing respiratory distress syndrome than babies born vaginally at a similar gestational age.
Their research has been presented at the 32nd Annual Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Meeting, “The Pregnancy Meeting”. It showed that small for gestational age babies delivered early by c-section had higher rates of respiratory distress syndrome than similar preterm babies who were born vaginally. The study called “Method of Delivery and Neonatal Outcomes in Preterm, Small for Gestational Age Infants” is the ninth study by SMFM members to be honored by the March of Dimes for innovative research focused on preventing premature birth and its complications.
Diane Ashton, MD, MPH, March of Dimes deputy medical director said :
“These findings overturn conventional wisdom that c-sections have few or no risks for the baby and are consistent with the March of Dimes effort to end medically unnecessary deliveries before 39 weeks of pregnancy … Although in many instances, a c-section is medically necessary for the health of the baby or the mother, this research shows that in some cases the surgery may not be beneficial for some infants.”
Preterm birth, birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy, is the leading cause of newborn death, and one million babies worldwide die each year as a result of their early birth. It is also a serious health problem costing the United States more than $26 billion annually, according to a 2006 Institute of Medicine report. Babies who survive an early birth often face the risk of lifelong health challenges, such as breathing problems, cerebral palsy, learning disabilities and others.
March of Dimes has been working with hospitals and health policy experts for more than two years to implement a tool kit it developed with its partners that promotes policies and practices to reduce the number of medically unnecessary c-sections and inductions scheduled before 39 weeks of pregnancy.
Written by Rupert Shepherd