A new study released by the University of Melbourne has sent parents into a panic after it was announced this week that babies born via caesarean are more likely to be developmentally delayed later in life than those delivered via natural birth.
But what does the research actually say and how worried should you really be by it all?
According to the study’s primary researcher, Dr Cain Polidano, the major discovery to come from the research is that Australian babies born via c-section show developmental delays in areas of grammar, numeracy, reading and writing to those babies born via natural births later in life, which sounds scary and can be cause for concern upon first hearing.
In processing this information, though, there are a number important things to take note of.
The number of people included in the research
Firstly, the findings in the study come from analysing the NAPLAN results of 5,000 students in Year 3. And in terms of participants used in a study, that's a large number, but it's also an iota of the 19 per cent of Australians that are aged between 0 to 14. Polidano best explained this when he told the ABC, "The findings are relatively small but significant."
The greatness of the gap
Upon hearing the words 'c-section' and 'developmental delays' it's understandable that panic would set in. But before you start worrying about the future of your child and look into hiring a private tutor, know this: the delay measured between vaginal born and caesarian babies was the equivalent of 35 school days' worth - a month - of education.
And while that's nothing to scoff at, it's also a separation that can be managed relatively easily and has the potential to be bridged in later years.
The finality of the research
Like most research, the findings from this study are ongoing, with Polidano himself admitting, "We've still got a lot more work to do".
At this stage, he said, the link between caesarian-born babies and developmental delays is "only correlational".
"It's very difficult to establish causation because you can't do randomised controlled trials which is the gold standard [of testing initial findings]," he said.
Polidano explained, "We've gone some way down the path of trying to establish causal relationships, we've still got a lot more work to do."
The importance of the home environment
Reading with your children, engaging in cognitive games and activities from an early age and building their learning skills at home will all help in your child's development, irrespective of how they were born - something Polidano says should be at the forefront of parents' minds.
"The home environment still trumps any mode of delivery," he said.
Some women don't have a choice
"Our message is really for mums who are thinking about a planned caesarian, that they should err on the side of caution and take into account these risks, but for women who, for health reasons, can't have a vaginal birth and have to have a c-section, then they should not feel guilty at all," Polidano said on Thursday.
"The last thing we want to happen would be for mums to feel guilty about not being able to have a vaginal delivery, or even worse that they would risk putting their own lives at stake for the sake of their future child's NAPLAN scores. We don't want that," he summarised.
Listen: Rebecca Judd talks about her natural birth and caesarian birth experiences on Hello Bump.
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Top Comments
Big brother is watching our kids. I always thought there were too many questions on those school enrolment forms.
As someone who had an emergency c section, I would imagine it is the reasons/complications behind the needs for many a c section that are related to developmental delays rather than the method of delivery itself. Could be an issue that started in utero, and then also caused complications at the birth itself, not to mention premature delivery. All this can have effects on a child's development.
We really can't go past the fact that there is an absolutely enormous number of caesareans that are not necessary, or shouldn't have been necessary. That is in no way the fault of the woman involved, it is the fault of the system that every woman is at the mercy of when she has a baby.
I have seen simply hundreds of births that have ended in caesarean because of what came before it, and because it was simply the last thing we could do. Nothing wrong with the mother, nothing wrong with the baby, the problem was with the rules, protocols and procedures of the hospital where the baby was born.
I am trying to organize a VBAC for when I move home to Australia and finding it hard to find an OBGyn to take me! I am high risk but my doctor in Japan is very happy to allow me to do Vaginal birth, it's amazing how different the attitudes are.
In regards to this study however, I do agree more needs to be researched in particular regarding the mothers mental health and support system after giving birth. Mums who have c-sections have longer recovery and need more support as well as higher cases of baby blues and PND. I just don't feel that they have properly ruled it out as a factor - self reporting of PND is not going to give an accurate measure of the actual cases.
Depending on where you're going to be living, your best bet for a VBAC is to have your baby in a public hospital and hire a private midwife. They'll cost about the same as a private doctor and their successful VBAC rates will be way way higher. If you're in Melbourne and really keen for a private doctor, Lionel Steinberg is your man :) though Saul Cohen is pretty awesome as well.