The consequences of caesarean birth.
Birthing by caesarean, especially when repeat caesareans
occur, can have some undesired physical effects. As technology has
improved, the problems associated with caesarean birth have been
dramatically reduced. But there are still a few common consequences
to birthing in this way.
One consequence is the scarring and adhesions that
will occur as a result of the surgical trauma. No matter how gently
the surgery is performed, internal organs will develop some adhesions
that may cause problems later in our lives.
The adhesions may cause pain in future pregnancies,
as the increasing size of the uterus pulls, stretches or breaks
adhesions formed earlier between the uterus and surrounding organs,
or the abdominal wall.
They can also cause pain in a non-pregnant woman,
especially around the time of menstruation, when inflammation and
contractions of smooth muscle (related to menstruation) may irritate
adhesions and scarring.
The risk of placental attachment occurring, on the
site of the uterine scar, and causing problems with placental retention
during third stage, increases with each caesarean a woman experiences.
This problem may necessitate manual removal of the placenta after
the birth of your baby, and could cause pieces of the placenta to
remain behind -> causing uterine bleeding and possible infection.
For each subsequent caesarean birth a woman experiences,
the surgery becomes more complicated, as the surgeon must negotiate
his/her way more carefully through the scarring and adhesions formed
from previous surgeries.
Caesarean birth also holds all the consequences normally
associated with major abdominal surgery. That is, anaesthetic and
other drug risks to both mother and child, the risk of excessive
blood loss, surgical damage to adjacent organs, etc. These need
to be acknowledged and taken into account when planning a caesarean
birth.
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