Don't have a caesar before 39 weeks!

Just the way I like to start my morning...finding a reason to hate Victoria Beckham just a little bit more...

Turns out a new study has shown that scheduling a caesar earlier for reasons of convenience is bad for baby and for mum. In a group of 24,000 babies, those who were born at 37 weeks to mothers who had elective caesars were twice as likely to experience breathing problems and blood infections. Even though babies are considered 'full term' at this stage, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists suggests that women wait until at least 39 weeks. It is also argued that breastfeeding and bonding can be more difficult the earlier a baby is born.

On the other side of the coin, Michael F. Greene of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study said, "This paper, although it provides important information about risk, does not give us the whole story. It doesn't provide an accounting of how many babies may have died waiting to get to 39 weeks. You have to balance both sides of the ledger."

There you have it. Don't be like Posh and have your baby earlier if you don't need to.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/7eqee5