Changes in obstetric practice, increasing safety and greater involvement of women in choosing the type of delivery they have, has fuelled debate about the delivery options that are available to women. The short and long term risks associated with instrumental and spontaneous delivery have yet to be fully explored but a two-year study being undertaken by the University of Aberdeen hopes to study the effect of alternative modes of delivery on subsequent reproductive performance.
A previous study conducted by the University in 1989, involving 23,000 women, demonstrated that women who had experienced a birth with the aid of instruments were less likely to have another child than women who had experienced a spontaneous 'normal' delivery.
A new study is currently underway by the University at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital to investigate the complexity of the decision of whether to experience pregnancy and childbirth again following different modes of delivery. Over 3,000 questionnaires are being sent to women in the North-East who had a non-caesarean birth between 1980 and 1995 and who did not have another child for five years in a bid to find out what effect it might have had on their future health and childbearing. The Wellcome Trust is funding the research and the results will be announced in 2004.
Audrey Atherton Naji, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, at the University, said:" We would like to ask all women who have received the questionnaire from the University of Aberdeen to complete it and return this to us as quickly as possible. This will help in this important maternity care study to examine the effect of methods of birth on future childbearing."
It is hoped that the results from the questionnaire will help future mothers-to-be make a more informed choice regarding the different types of delivery available.
For further information about the study, please contact Audrey Atherton Naji in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Aberdeen, telephone: (01224) 553936 or email: a.atherton.naji@abdn.ac.uk