Cesarean Deliveries Equal More Time in Hospital

http://www.orgyn.com/en/news/2007/Week_12/Day_3/Cesarean_deliveries_.asp?C=95181391627993055556

Cesarean deliveries equal more time in hospital
Source: Obstetrics and Gynecology 2007; 109: 669-77

Comparing the amount of hospital care associated with vaginal and cesarean births.
Women should be told that their risk of re-hospitalization might increase after a cesarean birth, say scientists.
They add that their data contradicts the rationale that cesareans offer "greater maternal convenience."
Eugene Declercq (Boston University School of Massachusetts, USA) and team compared how many women needed to be re-admitted to hospital after giving birth among 3334 who had a planned cesarean and 240,754 who had a planned vaginal delivery.

Women who opted for a planned cesarean were the most likely to be re-admitted in the first 30 days after giving birth, at 19.2 per 1000 deliveries compared with 7.5 per 1000 planned vaginal deliveries.
After controlling for age, race, and ethnicity, it was calculated that a cesarean birth carried more than double the odds of re-hospitalization than a vaginal birth.

Most women needed to re-enter hospital following a cesarean due to wound complications or infection.
Hospital stays were also significantly longer for women who had a cesarean, at 4.3 days compared with only 2.4 days for women who opted for a vaginal birth.

"Planned cesareans are not without immediate health consequences for mothers and financial implications for society," say the scientists.
"Clinicians should be aware of the increased risk for maternal re-hospitalization after cesarean deliveries to low-risk mothers when counseling women about their choices," they conclude.

Posted: 21 March 2007
© 2007 Current Medicine Group Ltd, a part of Springer Science+Business Media