Risks of Cesarean Section
Robin Elise Weiss, ICCE, CD, NACA
When a caesarean is done, the risks and benefits of the procedure
need to be weighed. This includes looking at the added benefits and
risks of doing a caesarean or of birthing the child vaginally. Sometimes
the benefits of the caesarean will outweigh the risks, and sometime
the vaginal birth benefits will outweigh the risks of the caesarean.
People were asking what the additional risk of the caesarean were.
I am condensing the following list from the book Mayo Clinic: Complete
Book of Pregnancy & Baby's First Year. If you have any questions
feel free to write me at: pregnancy.guide@miningco.com
http://pregnancy.miningco.com/
Caesarean birth is major surgery, and, as with other surgical procedures,
risks are involved. The estimated risk of a woman dying after a caesarean
birth is less than one in 2,500 (the risk of death after a vaginal
birth is less than one in 10,000). These are estimated risks for a
large population of women. Individual medical conditions such as some
heart problems may make the risk of vaginal birth higher than caesarean
birth.
Other risks for the mother include the following:
- Infection. The uterus or nearby pelvic organs such as the bladder
or kidneys can become infected.
- Increased blood loss. Blood loss on the average is about twice
as much with caesarean birth as with vaginal birth. However, blood
transfusions are rarely needed during a caesarean.
- Decreased bowel function. The bowel sometimes slows down for several
days after surgery, resulting in distention, bloating and discomfort.
- Respiratory complications. General anaesthesia can sometimes lead
to pneumonia.
- Longer hospital stay and recovery time. Three to five days in
the hospital is the common length of stay, whereas it is less than
one to three days for a vaginal birth.
- Reactions to anaesthesia. The mother's health could be endangered
by unexpected responses (such as blood pressure that drops quickly)
to anaesthesia or other medications during the surgery.
In caesarean birth, the possible risks to the baby include the
following:
- Premature birth. If the due date was not accurately calculated,
the baby could be delivered too early.
- Breathing problems. Babies born by caesarean are more likely to
develop breathing problems such as transient tachypnea (abnormally
fast breathing during the first few days after birth).
- Low Apgar scores. Babies born by caesarean sometimes have low
Apgar scores. The low score can be an effect of the anaesthesia
and caesarean birth, or the baby may have been in distress to begin
with. Or perhaps the baby was not stimulated as he or she would
have been by vaginal birth.
- Foetal injury. Although rare, the surgeon can accidentally nick
the baby while making the uterine incision.
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