Women whose first child is born by Cesarean section are less likely to have more kids compared to women who give birth in the traditional way, a recent study shows.
The finding is based on nearly 600,000 births between 1967 and 2003 tracked by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the University of Bergen. The study, published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, showed that women who underwent C-section to have their first baby were 12 percent less likely to have another child than women who gave birth vaginally.
The study authors noted that the lower subsequent-birth rate among women who had undergone C-section was not related to medical problems that might have necessitated a Cesarean delivery in the first place. Instead, they speculated that women’s views about childbirth may have been affected by the surgical procedure.
“We do not think it has anything to do with the medical reason for the Cesarean section or any physical consequences of the operation,” said Dr. Kari Klungsøyr, head physician with the Medical Birth Registry of Norway, in a press release. “We can ask ourselves if it is such that if the women have had the child they want, maybe some cannot bear the thought of pregnancy, birth and any new operational procedures.”