Caesarean delivery triples death risk, says study

A caesarean delivery more than triples a woman's risk of dying in childbirth compared to a vaginal birth, according to a new study from France.

The risk is still small, but many developed countries have seen a dramatic rise in the number of caesareans performed each year as more women elect to avoid a vaginal delivery.

Researchers, led by Dr Catherine Deneux-Tharaux of the Maternite Hopital Tenon in Paris, looked at 65 maternal deaths recorded in the French National Perinatal Survey from 1996 to 2000.

All of the deaths followed births of a single child and were not due to conditions existing before delivery. Nor had the women been hospitalised during pregnancy.

The researchers found that the risk of death - from blood clots, infection or complications from anaesthesia - was 3.6 times higher for women who had caesareans.

The risk of death after childbirth was increased whether or not the caesarean was performed before the onset of labour or during labour.

The study was published in the September issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Although rates of maternal death in most developed countries are low - United States women have a 1 in 3500 chance of pregnancy-related death - the incidence of maternal mortality has not significantly decreased in the past two decades, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

- REUTERS