Cesarean Birth Experience Influences a Baby's Psychological and Brain Development

Being born in a Cesarean section negatively affects a baby's ability to focus on a particular area of interest, says a new study conducted at York University.

"Our research has revealed that being born by a C-section slows a baby's spatial attention, which plays a role in its ability to focus on a particular area or object of interest," said Scott Adler, professor at York University in Toronto, Canada.

China's Cesarean Section Delivery Rate too High
A new commentary published (20 August) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (BJOG) suggests that efforts must be made to decrease China's increasing caesarean section rate.

Prior to this study, very little was known about how the birth experience influences a baby's psychological and brain development, though earlier studies have shown that factors such as birth weight and the mother's age impact child development.

For the study, 34 infants were presented with two types of object selection tasks, to measure the latency of eye movements in hundreds of milliseconds.

In a 30-minute session, the infants were on their backs with the stimuli above them on a screen, while infrared light tracked their eye movements.

Risk of Cerebral Palsy Not Lowered by Cesarean Delivery
New research led by the University of Adelaide reveals that cesarean deliveries do not prevent children from developing cerebral palsy.

The researchers found that babies delivered by natural birth were quicker in focusing attention on an object of interest than those delivered by Cesarean section.

According to Adler, these are very important findings, considering there is a steady increase in the number of babies delivered by Cesarean sections.

Rate of Cesarean Delivery at Different Hospitals Shows Wide Variation
Across the U.S. there is wide variation in the rate of cesarean sections performed at different hospitals.

He also added that further research into this attention difference by examining whether the Cesarean was due to birthing complications or by choice, and whether it has a long term impact, will also offer insight into the reason for differences in spatial attention in children.

The study was published online in the journal Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics.

Wide Variation in Cesarean Delivery Rates Observed in US Hospitals
Hospital cesarean delivery rates were noted to be varying in the hospitals in US, reported by the researchers at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health.

Source-IANS