Experts Urge Caution in Early C-Sections
Delivering too soon boosts the risk for serious complications

(HealthDay News) -- As the number of women having cesarean deliveries has swelled in recent years, so, too, has the rate of deliveries before 39 weeks of gestation, putting infants at risk of significant health problems.

Unless there's a medical reason to do so, experts are urging expectant moms not to rush to the operating suite.

"There is more and more data suggesting that there is lots of development between 37 and 39 weeks [of gestation]," Dr. Laura E. Riley, medical director of labor and delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital, said during a March of Dimes conference in New York City.

It's simply better for the baby to go full term, she said.

The number of babies born "preterm" -- before 37 weeks of gestation -- has risen more than 30 percent in the past two decades, according to the March of Dimes.

That's a worrisome trend, it explained, because preterm infants have a greater chance of breathing problems, feeding difficulties, hypothermia, jaundice, delayed brain development and death than babies born at term.

Women having an elective, repeat C-section, in fact, are twice as likely to have a baby with serious complications, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. The babies were more likely to have respiratory complications and to be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit, the study found.

Many preterm births could be avoided, experts say.

In a national study of birth data, researchers at the March of Dimes and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that C-sections accounted for 92 percent of all singleton preterm births over a nine-year period, from 1996 through 2004.

"While maternal and fetal complications during pregnancy may result in the need for a C-section, we're concerned that some early C-section deliveries may be occurring for non-medically-indicated reasons," Dr. Alan R. Fleischman, the March of Dimes medical director and senior vice president, said in a prepared statement. "We need research to determine how many C-sections that result in preterm babies are not medically indicated and may place both mother and baby at risk for little or no medical benefit."

Women who are considering a C-section should speak with their doctor about the benefits and risks, the March of Dimes advises. Here's what to ask if a health-care provider recommends delivery before 39 weeks:

• Is there a problem with my health or the health of my baby that makes me need to have my baby early?
• Can I wait to have my baby closer to 40 weeks?
• Why do I need to have a C-section?
• What problems can a C-section cause for me and my baby?
• Will I need to have a C-section in future pregnancies?

On the Web

To learn more about the risks of a preterm birth, visit the March of Dimes.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Laura E. Riley, M.D., medical director of labor and delivery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Dec. 16, 2008, March of Dimes conference, New York City, "C-Sections: A Critical Factor in the Rise of Preterm Birth?"; March of Dimes, White Plains, N.Y.; University of Alabama at Birmingham, news release, Jan. 7, 2009
Author: Karen Pallarito
Publication Date: Nov. 30, 2009
Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.