Health care consequences of cesarean birth during the first 18 months of life
Leung, G.M.; Ho, L.-M.; Tin, K.Y.K.; Schooling, C.M.; Lam, T.-H.
Epidemiology 18(4): 479-484
2007
ISSN/ISBN: 1044-3983 PMID: 17473708 DOI: 10.1097/ede.0b013e318060d245Document Number: 200654
Elective cesarean delivery is increasingly common. The potential effects of surgical delivery in an unselected sample of infants beyond the immediate neonatal period remain poorly defined. We carried out an 18-month follow-up of a population-based cohort of 8327 Hong Kong Chinese infants born in 1997. The main outcome measures were utilization of outpatient visits and hospitalizations, categorized by doctor-diagnosed causes as reported by parents. Among term singleton infants, there was no association of cesarean (compared with vaginal) birth with subsequent hospital admission (adjusted odds ratio = 0.92; 95% confidence interval = 0.79-1.08) or with above versus below the median number of outpatient episodes (1.10; 0.96-1.26) in the first 18 months of life. There were weak positive associations with afebrile gastrointestinal, respiratory, skin and a few other conditions. Cesarean birth is not associated with hospitalization or outpatient care overall during the first 18 months after adjustment for confounders. We cannot rule out isolated associations with minor morbidities.