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Babies Delivered by C-Section Higher Risk
http://www.motheraid.info/articles/2/1/Babies-Delivered-by-C-Section-Higher-Risk/Page1.html
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By Other Sources
Published on 07/18/2008
 
Cesarean section was once a rare surgical procedure used exclusively in high-risk obstetric emergencies. It often delivered medically fragile babies who struggled to survive the complications of their births—and a higher neonatal mortality rate among c-section babies made a certain kind of sense. Today, however, c-section is no longer reserved for emergencies—in fact, its use is commonplace in healthy, low risk pregnancies and deliveries.

New research of the current c-section paradigm reveals a startling fact: babies delivered via cesarean, to mothers at term with no medical risks or complications, nonetheless die in their first month of life at a rate more than two times that of their vaginally-born peers. Yes, you read that right—opting for an unnecessary c-section means more than doubling the likelihood of neonatal death. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed over 5.7 million live births and nearly 12,000 infant deaths over a four-year period. They found the neonatal mortality rates to be 1.77 per 1,000 live births among infants delivered via c-section, compared with 0.62 per 1,000 live births in vaginal deliveries.These findings, published in the August edition of Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care, are especially significant in light of the unprecedented and escalating number of c-section deliveries.

In the US, the overall rate of cesarean delivery increased by 41% between 1996 and 2004, and the rate among women with no medical need for cesarean (at term, with no indicated medical risk factors or complications of labor and delivery) nearly doubled.

One reason the researchers cite for the higher death rate among c-section babies is that the process of labor and vaginal delivery helps prepare the baby for life outside of the womb. As well as squeezing fluid out of the lungs, it may promote the release of hormones that encourage healthy lung function, and prepare infants to breathe. Earlier studies have indicated that babies born by cesarean are more likely to experience breathing problems.