Friday, January 8, 2010

Induced birth research is irrelevant to maternal request cesareans

An article on the Citizens Report website yesterday, 'New Study Warns of Risks from Unnecessary Cesarean Births, and while I don't have an issue with efforts to reduce cesarean rates for women who desperately want to have a vaginal delivery (unless the surgery is needed in order to save the baby's or mother's life), I am critical of reports that make a connection between the term 'unnecessary cesarean' and women who 'choose' cesarean delivery.

My comment on the article
As far as I can ascertain, this research relates to planned vaginal deliveries that were induced (it is stated that the researchers “excluded women who had scheduled or previous cesarean deliveries”). Therefore, it is irrelevant to make a connection between this research and the legitimate decision made by women to plan a cesarean delivery and avoid a trial of labor. The research does not even include the latter type of birth in its analysis.

The advice for women considering a maternal request cesarean delivery is to ensure that they do not have surgery prior to 39 weeks (in order to ensure that the baby’s lungs have developed properly). This research reinforces the established medical opinion that risks are lower for women delivering after 39 weeks gestation.

No comments: