Cesarean Delivery Can Pose Long-Term Risks to Mother and Child

1st child was a csection due to decelerating heart rate 2nd & 3rd were scheduled csections. Never went into natural labor w all 3. A necessary breast reduction prevented breastfeeding (this was in late teens) All 3 kids are healthy & thin build Rarely an ear infection Eczema has cleared—2 had it when younger

I had two vaginal births followed by hemorrhages, and one scheduled c-section for a stubborn left-handed breech baby. The c-section was the easiest recovery of the three. I was so freaked out about the c-section that I might have tried a vaginal delivery with that baby, too, if I had been able to find a doctor who would let me attempt a vaginal breech delivery. There weren't any. As my husband said, there is probably a reason for that. Like antibiotics, c-sections save lives. We should use them when they're needed and not when they're not.

My 92 year old mother had 9 C-sections... she is healthy for her age as are all 9 of us. Perhaps something has changed in the process in the last 50+ years since her last one... or maybe there are just too many variables in our lives and C-section procedures for science to isolate one as the cause of any particular problem. The percentages mentioned are increases in probabilities, but no mention of whether that's a 17% increase in a .000001% chance? Poorly written at best.

It's infuriating when people assume that c-section moms feel like they have failed. I promise I have no regrets about being alive and having two healthy babies. I did not "miss out" on the birth experiences. I had two birth experiences.

My first son was delivered by an unnecessary C-section. I was able to breast-feed. He developed just fine, did not not get asthma, and is nowhere near obese. I healed up ok from the operation, but I was disappointed not to have given birth vaginally. My second child was born vaginally. The doctor gave me an episiotomy, but I also tore. Of course I required quite a lot of stitches and it made for an uncomfortable recovery, to say the least. My baby, completely breast-fed, developed an eczema that wouldn't quit, which finally sort of cleared, only to be replaced by asthma. And don't even get me started on the food allergies. And now, twenty years later, I have a rectocele, a cystocele, and a gradually falling uterus. I get up about 2-3 times in the night to go to the loo. Which is not to say those anatomical things wouldn't have happened anyway, but the vaginal birth experience surely hastened them along. This little "article" on the "risks" of c-sections is nothing but click bait.

Did they factor into the risk for the outcome the reasons for the c-section in the first place? There are built in medical reasons for a lot of c sections that affect the health of the mother and child after birth.

I read this article twice and could not find any "long term risks to the mother" mentioned at all, unless she pursues future pregnancies. Instead, it starts off by citing several long-term BENEFITS of C-sections. Maybe that would have been a better title: "Cesarean Delivery Can Have Long Term Benefits to Mother, But Theoretical Risks for Child." You could also publish an article: "Vaginal Delivery Can Pose Long-Term Risks to Mother And Child" and it would be equally true. But they wouldn't publish that because C-sections are supposed to be evil and we're supposed to hate them, and vaginal births are supposed to make all our kids skinny, perfectly healthy geniuses. Personally, I loved my scheduled C-section. I didn't take longer to heal, certainly not nearly as long as my friends who tore pushing for many hours. I sleep 8 straight hours without ever having to get up to go to the bathroom and have never had a second's incontinence, ever. My child is skinny and perfectly healthy with no allergies and a wonderful appetite. So are both my parents in their 70s/80s, who were fed exclusively with whatever formula was available in 1940. I'm tired of these articles that push public health propaganda and stigmatize women who — often very reasonably, often because it is the only option — have C-sections and use baby formula.

This article is a very short synopsis to a complicated medical issue. Pregnancy is a very complex human condition. During pregnancy there are multiple changes in a woman's body that increase the chance of blood clots, hemorrhage, hypertension, diabetes, gall bladder disease, kidney problems and more. In general it is better to avoid surgery whenever possible because of the risks of anesthesia, bleeding and infection. However, every situation is specific to the patient and her condition. The goal with every pregnancy should be healthy mom and baby.

I wanted a healthy baby and my giant baby was not coming out except by c-section. We both did well. I did not have a subsequent pregnancy, but if I had, I would have had prenatal care to ensure the best possible outcome. Stop scaring people! Most women want a BABY, and they will accept it however it arrives. My doctor stayed up all night with me, hoping that my son would emerge vaginally, but when he did not, he was ready to perform the c-section that saved my son's life. I was grateful then, grateful now and would do it again if I had to.

I requested a c-section because I was young and terrified. Thankfully, my doctor reassured me and I had a wonderful birth experience. Several friends have had c-sections for various medically necessary reasons. Though they did have longer slower recoveries their children are healthy. Well, there are risks either way we are so fortunate to have so many relatively safe birthing options.

C-sections are often life saving. However, we certainly do too many of them these days. They are harder to recover from and carry the risk of more complications. Part of the issue is unnecessary inductions of first time moms that often fail and end in c-section. These moms will then usually have a repeat c-section with the next baby. C-sections can delay breast milk production and lead to more failure of breast feeding especially in first time moms. These are issues that we can work to improve in obstetrics.

I had 3 c sections, I have no problems and I have three healthy thin adult children, no asthma. I really think it depends on the individual.

My 32 year old daughter just requested her birth certificate to get the exact time she was born because she wanted her astrology chart read. I knew the time was somewhere between 6pm and 9pm-ish but wasn't certain. That's because at about 5:30pm, after 24 hours in a labor that never progressed, her heart monitor strip showed heart deceleration - signs that she was in distress. As a medical student in labor, I went 'deer in the headlights' and time froze as they prepped us for c-section. She just told me that her birth certificate said she was born at 6:02pm. We must have been rushed to c-section. She was born a tired but healthy baby, and in my opinion, has grown to be a brilliant young woman. Apparently, my pelvis has bony projections that prevent a normal sized fetus from exiting. My second child was a scheduled section, during which the anesthesia almost killed me. Still, I am grateful for two normal and lovely adult children and 32 years as their mother. I know that would have not been how things played out if my daugher and I had lacked access to a c-section. Yes I would have preferred a successful vaginal delivery. Yes, she had a lot of ear infections as a young child (perhaps maternal vaginal microbiome deficit??). Yes, my lower abdominal muscles are weak and weird from the two surgeries - but I don't think either of us would have made it well through the first delivery.

You need to separate out scheduled c-sections, including for maternal request, from those that are done when a vaginal birth goes wrong--when much of the long-term damage has already occurred. Then you need to compare the statistics for scheduled c-sections against those of all vaginal deliveries. Scheduled c-section have their risks, but one of them is not the tremendous pressure on a woman's delicate nerves and muscles that may never heal well, if at all. Or the tremendous pain often produced by vaginal delivery. To be honest, we need to focus on the health of the woman, physical and psychological, a lot more than the health of her baby--she grows it from nothing but her blood and her bones, then gives it life at risk of her own. Obstetrics needs to treat women like the creators and life-givers that they are.

So many of us have been encouraged to have c-sections because it is quicker and easier for the doctors. It is a shame that the ob/gyns do not take these serious effects into account.

Oh please! And what are the long-term risks of vaginal delivery? Let me think...hm...incontinence for Mom and disability for the child. I had two c-sections and no regrets.

With respect to the link to obesity, asthma, still birth and miscarriage, did they control for maternal characteristics like socioeconomic status, obesity, diabetes, maternal asthma, etc? If so, this is interesting. If not, then it’s silly to publish this and suggest a causal relationship. The placenta accreta link I bet is causal, but the rest I doubt unless they controlled for these factors.

Sigh. Is it really any surprise that woman who had to have a C-section the first time went on to have subsequent pregnancy problems? It seems like there is a confusion between cause and effect to me. The first C-section was a symptom (effect) and the subsequent problems are a symptom (effect). Also, you are always (100% of the time) older with a second or third pregnancy; if you initially had problems, they're not going to get better with time.

I nearly died after my second cesarean. My OB told me the previous scar hadn't let my uterus stretch properly and it was as much thinner than normal for full-term as saran wrap is thinner than a styrofoam cup. Took them more than two hours to sew me back up because I wouldn't stop bleeding and tearing. Strange thing is that I had a VBAC between the two.

This is devastating for the one-third of US women who undergo a cesarean. They will blame themselves. However, it is lack of access to and support for vaginal birth after cesareans that keeps our cesarean rate going up and up not the failure of women. We need health policy that addresses this as the crisis it is.