-Original-

Increased Rate of Elective Cesarean Delivery and Neonatal Respiratory Disorders in Twin Pregnancies

Shunji Suzuki, Eriko Yamashita, Yusuke Inde, Yoshie Hiraizumi and Misao Satomi

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Japanese Red Cross Katsushika Maternity Hospital, Tokyo

We examined whether the incidence of neonatal respiratory disorders has increased with the increased rate of elective cesarean delivery in twin pregnancies. We reviewed the obstetric records of 292 twin deliveries with vertex presentation of the first twin after 37 weeks' gestation at our hospital from 2000 through 2008. The study period was divided into 3 parts as follows: period 1: 2000 through 2002 (n=76); period 2: 2003 through 2005 (n=104); and period 3: 2006 through 2008 (n=112). We compared the rate of elective cesarean delivery due to maternal request and the incidence of transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN). There has been a significant increase in rate of elective cesarean delivery (period 1: 18%; period 2: 25%; period 3: 48%) over the past several years. This increase was observed to be due to an increase in maternal requests for elective cesarean delivery. However, there were no significant differences in the incidence of TTN in the 3 periods [period 1: 7.2%; period 2: 6.7%; period 3: 8.0%]. The recent increase in the rate of cesarean delivery did not cause the increase in the incidence of neonatal respiratory disorders in twin pregnancies.

J Nippon Med Sch 2010; 77: 93-96

Keywords
cesarean delivery rate, transient tachypnea of the newborn, twin pregnancy

Correspondence to
Shunji Suzuki, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Japanese Red Cross Katsushika Maternity Hospital, 5-11-12 Tateishi, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo 124-0012, Japan
czg83542@mopera.ne.jp

Received, September 16, 2009
Accepted, November 24, 2009