Babies born by caesarean are nearly three times more likely to die in the first month than those born naturally, a US research showed.

Labour appears to help prepare the baby for life outside the womb, according to the findings, based on over 5.7 million births. The survey is particularly important given the growing trend of women opting for caesareans, the authors have concluded.

More than one in five of all British babies are now born by caesarean.

The Birth journal study included women with no obvious medical risks who had elected to have a caesarean.

Even after adjusting the results for social and medical differences among the women, babies born by caesarean were still at more than twice the risk of dying in the first month of life.

From 1998 to 2001, the death rate among those delivered by caesarean was 1.77 per 1,000 live births compared to 0.62 for vaginal deliveries, BBC reported.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!