Don’t rush that baby!

If you’re one of the women who have elected to have a non-medically required Cesarean section (C-section), I wish I could convince you not to do it. C-sections are *major* abdominal surgery. If you’re doing it because you’re afraid of labor and delivery, recoving from a major abdominal surgery is no walk in the park.

But, if you’re still going to do it, at least wait until your 39th week of pregnancy, regardless of your own tight schedule. While we knew that a few weeks can make a big difference in infant health, now it seems that it’s not just weeks, it’s also days that can make a difference.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel hill found, after studying more than 13,000 women who were delivering for a second or more time and were having planned C-sections that were not medically needed. The recommended dates for delivery are not earlier than 39 weeks of pregnancy and the researchers found that babies born at 37 or 38 weeks had more breathing problems, more infections, and had problems with their blood sugar.

Babies born at 38 weeks had double the risk of complications as babies born at 39 weeks. You can read more about the study findings here: C-sections should wait until 39 weeks, study says.

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Tags: pregnancy blog, c sections, cesarean section, planned c sections, non medically needed c sections