This week we engaged in an intense study of the calendar, trying to find the ideal day to schedule my C-section (if one actually exists).
And although my lower back and hips are aching to deliver this baby today, I don’t want to schedule my C-section too early. Every minute counts, according to two recent studies on gestational periods.
Some essential brain development occurs in the last several weeks of pregnancy, and I was surprised to learn that even slightly premature babies (born at 34–36 weeks) may have a 36% higher chance of developmental delay or disability, according to a recent study. “A late pre-term baby is not the same as a term baby,” says Dr. Steven Morse, the study author and director of Community Newborn Services at the University of Florida.
Although the fetus might be physically capable of life outside the womb, the “bun” needs a little more time in the “oven” before its brain is ready. So I’ll tell my back and hips to tough it out for at least another month. But after 36 weeks, I could schedule it anytime, right?
Nope.
Up until recently that was the case, but OB’s have been pushing that date back to 39 weeks, following a 2009 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
That study found that babies born by repeat elective C-section in the 37th and 38th week of gestation may double their risk of problems, including “adverse respiratory outcomes, mechanical ventilation, newborn sepsis, hypoglycemia, admission to the neonatal ICU, and hospitalization for 5 days or more.”
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ guidelines specified that a repeat elective C-section should not be performed until 39 weeks—but many women and their doctors were ignoring that guideline for the sake of convenient timing.
Next: Can I wait too long?
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