Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that older mothers with normal, full-term pregnancies ? particularly first-time older mothers ? were more likely to undergo Caesarean delivery than were younger women with similarly low-risk pregnancies.
The researchers arrived at their finding after examining birth certificates from 8 million U.S. births, for children born between 1995?2000. Because the researchers were limited solely to information from birth certificates, they were unable to ascertain why older mothers were more likely to undergo cesarean delivery than were mothers who were younger.
?Until we learn why older mothers with low-risk pregnancies have a disproportionately high rate of Caesarean delivery, the utmost caution is needed in evaluating older mothers as candidates for the procedure,? said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of the NICHD, the NIH Institute that conducted the study. ?Although older mothers share certain risk factors in common, each woman is a unique individual and the potential benefits and risks of Caesarean delivery should be evaluated for her specific case.?
The researchers undertook the study to evaluate the risks of pregnancy complications ? including Caesarean delivery ? associated with advancing maternal age among women pregnant with a single child.
Overall, older mothers (over age 35) were more likely than were younger women to experience complications during pregnancy and delivery.
The study authors found that the risk of delivery complications increased with the mother?s age, as did the risk of premature birth and infant death. Such complications include excessive bleeding during labor, prolonged labor lasting more than 20 hours, and dysfunctional labor that does not advance to the next stage.
In addition, older pregnant women were more likely to have diabetes and hypertension during pregnancy.
The study was published online in Human Reproduction.