Cesareans Only Benefit 'High-Risk' Women

http://www.orgyn. com/en/news/ 2007/Week_ 45/Day_3/ Cesareans_ only_benef. asp?C=1451739399 642025463

Cesareans only benefit 'high-risk' women
Source: British Medical Journal 2007; Advance online publication Assessing the risks and benefits associated with cesarean birth compared with vaginal delivery.

MedWire News: Researchers recommend caesarean section for high-risk deliveries, but they advise against women choosing to deliver by cesarean because of the increased risks for severe maternal morbidity.The investigators found that women who opted for a non-emergency cesarean were twice as likely to face maternal morbidity as those who gave birth vaginally.Breech babies born by cesarean had a much higher chance of survival, however, with mortality rates of 1.79 percent compared with 8.55 percent for breech babies born vaginally.The researchers analyzed maternal outcomes in 97,095 Latin American women, among whom 62,486 delivered vaginally and 31,821 had cesarean births.Women who opted for non-emergency cesareans were three and five times more likely to undergo a hysterectomy and to develop a postpartum infection, respectively, than women who opted for vaginal delivery, remark Jose Villar (University of Oxford, UK) and team.Babies delivered by non-emergency cesarean were twice as likely to stay in intensive care for at least 7 days as babies born vaginally. But for breech babies, cesarean delivery had a protective effect, reducing vaginal complications and fetal death.The investigators conclude: "Any net benefit from the liberal use of cesearean delivery on maternal and neonatal outcomes... remains to be demonstrated, with the exception of fewer severe vaginal complications after delivery, and better fetal outcomes among breech presentations. "Posted: 7 November 2007(c) 2007 Current Medicine Group Ltd, a part of Springer Science+Business Media