Repeated cesarean procedures can have major repercussions on mother's health and birth outcomes, a new study says.
According to the U.S National Library of Medicine (NLM) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), about one in four women in the country go for C-section to deliver a baby.
Researchers from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the University of Oxford analyzed the occurrence of Multiple Repeat Caesarean Sections (MRCS) among UK women. They found MRCS or undergoing fifth or more C-sections occurring 1.2 per 10,000 births in the country.
Dr. Mandish Dhanjal and his colleagues compared 94 women who had MRCS with 175 women with less number of cesarean sections. Serious maternal complications like obstetric hemorrhage (18 percent) and blood transfusion (17 percent) were found associated with MRCS compared to women undergoing less number of cesarean sections ( 0.6 percent and 1 percent respectively).
They also found MRCS increasing the risks of a life threatening condition known as placenta previa or placenta accrete (18 percent).
Placenta previa is a complication of pregnancy in which the placenta grows in the lowest part of the uterus and covers all or part of the cervix, leading to internal bleeding. Reality TV star Tori Spelling, was in the news recently for her fight with placenta previa, during her fourth pregnancy.
In placenta accrete is a condition wherein placenta fixes itself too deeply into the wall of the uterus.
Apart from that, they also found the multiple C-sections escalating the risk of giving birth before completing the gestational age (27 percent) compared to the other group (5 percent).
"Multiple repeat caesarean sections are an unusual occurrence and for most women the outcomes are very good. However there is a higher risk of maternal complications and preterm delivery compared to women having fewer caesareans," Dhanjal, co-author of the study said in a news release. "We also found that these risks were greatest in women undergoing MRCS who also had placenta praevia and placenta accreta. Obstetricians should be aware of this high risk group of women and work in multidisciplinary teams in order to optimize their management."
Findings of the study have been published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
