Heraldnet.com
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2009 6:58 am
LocalNorthwestNation & WorldPoliticsSpecial ReportsPhotosColumnistsMultimedia 
Blog
The Buzz
The bottom line
Your town news
Julie Muhlstein
Columnist Julie Muhlstein's take on life in Snohomish County.
•Latest: Former prisoner of war humble about his own story
Kristi O'Harran
Columnist Kristi O'Harran writes about people in Snohomish County.
•Latest: Closure of Stanwood mapmaker a sad loss for area
Latest gallery

11-11 the day in pictures
November 11. 2009 (8 photos)
[More Herald photos]
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
Wednesday
Student hit in crosswalk to return
81 veterans' names, 81 meaningful lives honored...
USO singer's voice still charms them in Edmonds
Tuesday


Fire destroys Emory's restaurant
Peggy Pritchard Olson always put Edmonds first
Camano Island burglaries spike: Is Colton back?
Monday


Tree clearing, mud slide angers Everett neighbor
Later start for school day unlikely in Marysville
Hopes for Snohomish excursion train may hinge o...
Sunday


Glacier Peak freshman overcomes jitters to win ...
Gay marriage issue can wait, say Referendum 71 ...
Cities across south Snohomish County see tax re...
Saturday


Thousands honor slain Seattle police officer Ti...
Suspect identified in Seattle police killing
Mountlake Terrace thrilled by high school's fir...
Friday


Officer Timothy Brenton. Gone, but not forgotten
Person sought in officer's killing is shot in head
Thousands to pay respects to slain Seattle poli...
Thursday


Tale of 1916 Everett Massacre retold in style o...
Reservist survived Iraq but not his return to c...
Swine flu suspected in infant’s death
 

ADVERTISEMENT

Nation & World   Print This Article  Email This Page  Subscribe Now! facebook digg reddit del.icio.us fark stumble

 
ADVERTISEMENT

 
CONTACT THE HERALD
Do you have a news tip?
newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400
 
Published: Thursday, January 8, 2009

Study finds new risk to elective C-sections performed too early

Thousands of women put their babies at needless risk of respiratory problems, hypoglycemia and other medical ailments by scheduling ­cesarean-section deliveries too early, according to an analysis of more than 13,000 births published today in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Elective C-sections performed after only 37 or 38 weeks of pregnancy had up to four times the risk of serious complications compared with procedures done after 39 weeks. Even deliveries that were just one, two or three days shy of 39 weeks carried a 21 percent increased risk of complications, the study found.

"It looks like a day or two makes a difference," said Dr. John Thorp, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and co-author of the study.

The initiation of labor is a baby's way of signaling that it is ready to live outside the womb, Thorp said. When doctors schedule elective C-sections, "we're saying we're smarter than that signal," he said. "There are some babies who aren't ready to make that transition and are forced to do so."

There were 1,262 cases involving some kind of complication among the 13,258 elective C-sections examined in the study. The rate of adverse outcomes was 15.3 percent after 37 weeks, 11 percent after 38 weeks and 8 percent after 39 weeks.

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has recommended since at least 1999 that patients wait 39 weeks or more before having an elective C-section, said Dr. Mary D'Alton, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York-­Presbyterian ­Hospital/Columbia. D'Alton, who wasn't involved with the study, led a panel for the National Institutes of Health in 2006 that also emphasized in its report the importance of scheduling voluntary C-sections after 39 weeks of pregnancy.

Yet more than one-third of the women in today's study delivered earlier than that -- 6 percent after 37 weeks and 30 percent after 38 weeks.

Those mothers were more likely to be white, married and privately insured, the study found -- part of a cohort of professional women sometimes dubbed "too posh to push." They probably scheduled their deliveries on the early side to avoid any risk of going into labor at a time when their doctors might not be available to care for them, Dr. Michael Greene, the chief of obstetrics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, wrote in an editorial accompanying the study.

The analysis was based on data collected by a network of 19 academic medical centers for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the NIH. Researchers identified women who delivered babies by C-section between 1999 and 2002, even though they had no medical reason for doing so.

Compared with babies born after 39 weeks, babies delivered after 37 weeks were 4.2 times more likely to suffer from respiratory distress syndrome (3.7 percent of births versus 0.9 percent) and about three times more likely to be treated for hypoglycemia (2.4 percent versus 0.7 percent) or newborn sepsis (7 percent versus 2.5 percent).

They also had more than double the risk of being admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit and were almost three times as likely to require more than five days of hospitalization.

Babies born after 38 weeks had twice the risk of respiratory distress syndrome compared with those born after 39 weeks and were 30 percent to 80 percent more likely to have other serious complications, the study found.

The results suggest that the seven days during the 40th week of pregnancy is the safest time to schedule an elective C-section, Thorp said.

READER COMMENTS
Be the first to comment.
You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet.

To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click hereLog out

1. Emory’s owner fears fire was arson
2. Monroe honking case makes it to state Supreme Court
3. Vatican ponders the souls in space
4. 81 veterans' names, 81 meaningful lives honored in Snohomish
5. Hope dims that Olympics will boost region
6. Student hit in crosswalk to return
7. Smokey Point to celebrate end of roadwork
8. Death on Edmonds waterfront ruled a suicide
9. Help for young moms may continue
10. Semifinal slate sealed on ‘Dancing With Stars’
Enterprise Newspaper Snohomish County Business Journal
Bazaar Fever
Hawks proud of historic season
Olson always put Edmonds first
Honoring student veterans
‘Wheedle' author comes to Lynnwood bookshop
Mavs build early lead en route to easy win
Prep football games of the week (state playoffs)
Tears of laughter, tears of grief
Death on Edmonds beach likely a suicide
The Enterprise Online Newspaper


50% off 2nd Pizza
Special Click Here!

15% Off Your
First Time Purchase

Free Garlic Bread/Free Soda
Click here for details!

25% off Bath & Groom
New Customers

$2 OFF
at Box Office

Island Flavors with
Finest NW Ingredients

Free Dessert!
Click here!

QuadraFire Save $250
Free Smart-Stat

FREE Appetizer with any
purchase daily 2-6pm

$5 OFF
Lunch or Dinner

20% Off Dinner
Up to $75 Value!

Family Night Free Sundae
$9.99 Prime Rib

Buffet Dining
Tulalip Resort

FREE 6 lb. Pad w/
30yd Carpet Purchase

20% off Click Here*
Buy 1 Offer Click Here*

$5 Off
Stylecut

Great Food
24 Hours a Day

FREE Appetizer w/
purchase of 2 entrees

$1 off French Dip
$4.99 Burger Basket

Pacific Northwest
Fresh Cuisine

Lube, Oil & Filter
Buy 1 - Get 1 FREE

Come and Relax
Monthly Specials

All you can Eat Buffets
Angel of the Winds

$1 off French Dip
$4.99 Burger Basket
50th Street Burger
TODAY'S TOP JOBS
 View All Top Jobs 
Top Cars
Top Homes

ADVERTISEMENT