The caesarean section rate is rising in both the UK and elsewhere in the world. In some areas as many as one woman in four has her baby by caesarean section. At Aberdeen Maternity Hospital the rate is approximately one in five.
Caesarean section carries risks to both mothers' and babies' health. Also women who have their first baby by caesarean section go on to have fewer children than those who deliver the baby normally.
We do not know whether women who have caesarean sections have fewer babies from choice, or as a physiological consequence of the operation. We need to know more about what role caesarean section plays in women's decision making about family size.
A study is currently underway at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital to answer these questions. Over 1,000 Questionnaires are being sent to women in the North-east who had their first baby by caesarean section in the last 20 years in a bid to find out what effect it might have had on their future health and childbearing.
The project is being led by Dr Siladitya Bhattacharya, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Aberdeen. Dr Porter said: "The involvement of local women who have had their first baby by caesarean section is crucial to our understanding in this project. We would like to ask all women who have received our Questionnaire to complete it and return it to us to help in this important maternity care study."