Obese Women Have More C-Sections

An often overlooked risk of obesity in women is the effect on childbirth. A study of almost 12,000 woman found that doctors are 2.5 times more likely to perform a Caesarean section on obese women.

The underlying issue here is whether the C-Sections are really warranted.

Researchers suggest that many doctors are afraid to deal with obese women. Labour can be slower and physicians fear that a heavier woman means a heavier baby and hence a higher likelihood of getting stuck on the way out.

Of course C-Sections are quite minor compared to other potential complications of being obese and expecting. Other risks include; A higher risk of death to mothers and a near doubling in the odds of a baby dying in the womb or within the first year of life (about 8 more per 1000 according to one study).Increased risk of high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and preterm birth.Obese women are less able to fight infections such as chorioamnionitis - a potentially serious condition that can lead to blood clots in the mother's pelvis and lungs, and to meningitis, blood infection or respiratory problems in their newborns.Babies of obese moms are at higher risk for iron deficiency, which can impair brain development.Obese women have a 2-3x greater risk of delivering a baby with a neural tube defect (defects of the brain and spinal cord) than women of normal weight, and the heavier the woman, the worse the risk.

Everybody is uncomfortable when you're dealing with a very big woman "You're sort of damned if you do and damned if you don't. The caesarean is going to be difficult, and so is the vaginal birth."

-Dr. Lawrence Oppenheimer, site lead for obstetrics at the General Campus of the Ottawa Hospital.

The surgery itself is technically more difficult on a heavy woman... We need to use a standardized protocol for the management of labour, and instead of saying, 'I think it's going to go bad,' actually try to give the woman the proper time to labour".

-Dr. Haim Abenhaim, maternal and fetal medicine specialist and director of perinatal research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital.

It makes sense to make calls on an individual basis and sound research rather than assumptions and fears when it comes to delivering babies from obese mothers.

At the same time, more education is warranted when it comes to the health risks for both mother and baby of carrying too much weight. Canadian pregnancy specialist call current attitudes "laissez-faire" when it comes to addressing pre-pregnancy weight.

Source: Montreal Gazette
Image Credit: Flickr/Falcon

View the original article here