BMJ  2007;335:1226 (15 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.39423.481285.BE

Letters

Caesarean section

Points raised in responses

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In her rapid response, Amy B Tuteur, an obstetrician from Sharon, Massachussetts, argues that the definition of elective is misleading in the study by Villar et al.^{1 2} "The study compares women who had vaginal deliveries with women who had medically indicated caesarean sections, both non-emergency and emergency. It never investigated elective caesareans and therefore it reaches no conclusions about them."

"Equipoise exists," writes Robert G Buist, a visiting obstetrician at the Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick, Australia. "The time has come for a large prospective long term observational study comparing outcomes for women without absolute indications for caesarean who plan to give birth by caesarean v those planning to give birth vaginally."¹

Maureen Treadwell, a Hampshire committee member of the Birth Trauma Association, highlights that the important issue of maternal mental health is almost always forgotten, despite being a leading cause of death in the year around childbirth. "We . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ BMJ, BMA House, London WC1H 9JR

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Maternal and neonatal individual risks and benefits associated with caesarean delivery: multicentre prospective study

José Villar, Guillermo Carroli, Nelly Zavaleta, Allan Donner, Daniel Wojdyla, Anibal Faundes, Alejandro Velazco, Vicente Bataglia, Ana Langer, Alberto Narváez, Eliette Valladares, Archana Shah, Liana Campodónico, Mariana Romero, Sofia Reynoso, Karla Simônia de Pádua, Daniel Giordano, Marius Kublickas, Arnaldo Acosta World Health Organization 2005 Global Survey on Maternal and Perinatal Health Research Group
BMJ 2007 335: 1025. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Online poll

Find out more >>