For women who deliver their baby by Cesarean, there are a few extra considerations that must be taken into account both on the due date and during the baby’s infancy. Whether the Cesarean was elected or required for the baby and mother’s health, there are a few ways in which the outcome differs from a vaginal delivery. Of course, the new mom will need to care for her surgical incisions to make sure they heal properly, and doctors will have to pay extra close attention to a baby’s vital signs during the process. However, there is one Cesarean side effect that few women know about the first time around.
Studies show that babies who are delivered by a Cesarean do not have as much healthy intestinal bacteria as those delivered vaginally. Specifically, the research indicated that Escherichia-Shigella and Bacteroides were not abundant in the gut. These bacteria are essential to a healthy intestinal balance.
The reason the mode of delivery might have an effect is a matter of how the baby might obtain the bacteria. When a baby passes through the birth canal, he or she will come into contact with the vaginal bacteria present in the mother’s body. During a Cesarean, the baby rarely comes into contact with such bacteria, and any contact is usually limited to bacteria found on the skin.
As adults, our gut flora and bacteria can be upset by antibiotics and other medications that upset the natural balance of cells. When a baby is delivered, it is really the first time she is making contact with the outside world, so it’s no wonder the bacteria she ingests will have long-term effects on her internal balance.
Another little-known fact about babies delivered by Cesarean is that they are more likely to make a detour and visit the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for respiratory distress or difficulty breathing following their birth. Why? Because the natural act of compressing it’s little chest during the birthing process by way of passing through the vagina and thereby squeezing out the excess fluid in the lungs is not present during a Cesarean. This retained fluid, as it were, can cause rapid, distressed breathing of the infant, known as transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN) requiring time in the NICU for some drying out. Fortunately, the condition rarely progresses to a more serious complication.
So, Mother Nature, for the most part, does know what she’s doing when it comes to birthin’ babies. The frequency of Cesarean birth has skyrocketed over the past two decades, some for medical indications and more recently, at mother’s (or obstetrician’s) convenience. Just know that if Mother Nature wanted babies to be born abdominally, she would have put a zipper above the pubic bone.
– Yvonne S. Thornton, M. D., M. P. H.