Babies Born By C-Section Develop Slower In First Year, Says New Study
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According to data released by the Center for Disease Control (1), cesarean section births in 2018 are numbered at over a million. This number constituted 31.9% of the total deliveries carried out in the United States in 2018. What’s more, is that the number of women opting for cesarean sections continues to increase.
Although C-sections are lifesaving for both child and mother, this is not the only – or main – reason why more women are going for C-section delivery. Other reasons pregnant women prefer C-section deliveries include the painful labor and the general belief that cesarean sections are safer and convenient. However, contrary to these ideas, C-sections do have risks and are even less safe than natural deliveries.
But, aside from the misconceptions women have concerning C-sections, a new study has found that cesarean sections can hamper the development of babies (2). According to the findings published by the study, babies born through natural delivery have little to no growth complications during the first 12 months of delivery compared to their counterparts born via C-sections.
To conduct the study, researchers followed up on 66 babies born through C-sections and compared their growth to that of 352 babies born naturally. They started to monitor the progress of these babies from birth, and they took the first development evaluation tests four months after delivery. The next development tests took place when the babies were a year old.
The researchers also used questionnaires to collect more information from parents. The questionnaires contained 30 questions that scored the development of infants in five areas: fine motor skills, communication, problem-solving, gross motor skills, and personal social ability. For instance, at four months of age, researchers knew if babies grabbed or scratched their parents’ clothes or stared at toys when placed in their hands from the parents’ response to the questionnaire.
After data was collected and analyzed, the researchers found that babies born through cesarean sections scored poorly in all of the developmental areas measured by the questionnaire at four months of age. When the results of babies born through C-sections was compared to that of babies born naturally, researchers found big disparities in the area of fine motor skills and little differences in the area of communication. At age 12 months, when the next evaluation took place, the researchers found that all the differences noticed earlier were reduced except for gross motor skills. Babies born naturally had better scores in this area.
The findings from this research are similar to the results of previous studies. These studies, which were carried out in other locations, showed C-section deliveries could make babies develop poorly and cause negative performances when they reach school age. Some studies also show that children born through C-sections are susceptible to developing breathing problems (3). They can also suffer from childhood obesity, asthma, and diabetes (4).
As reliable as the study’s results are, especially when compared to other results reported from previous studies, other factors can affect the development of infants. For instance, when conducting the test, the weight and age of the mothers can impact the results. Also, when evaluating babies born naturally, researchers carried out the tests two days after the four-month mark and three days after the 12-months mark. Consequently, the researchers had to make adjustments to account for this in the study. Eventually, this brought about a reduction – especially when they were a year old – in the differences among the groups.
Also, in terms of average age, women who delivered through C-sections were approximately 2 years older than women who delivered naturally. C-section women also had a higher BMI. This situation, however, didn’t affect the development of the child. Another limitation to the study was the small sample size of children born through cesarean section.
Irrespective of the results of these studies, there shouldn’t be any stigma attached to women who feel that cesarean section is the best option for them at any point in time. Also, pregnant women with fetal malpresentation and pelvic disproportion should be encouraged to pursue cesarean section.
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