title: Can Caesarean section improve child and maternal health? The case of breech babies.
abstract: This paper examines the health effects of Caesarean section (CS) for children and their mothers. We use exogenous variation in the probability of CS in a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. Using administrative Danish data, we exploit an information shock for obstetricians that sharply altered CS rates for breech babies. We find that CS decreases the child's probability of having a low APGAR score and the number of family doctor visits in the first year of life. We find no significant effects for severe neonatal morbidity or hospitalizations. While mothers are hospitalized longer after birth, we find no effects of CS for maternal post-birth complications or infections. Although the change in mode of delivery for the marginal breech babies increases direct costs, the health benefits show that CS is the safest option for these children.
authors.affiliation: The Danish National Centre for Social Research, Herluf Trolles Gade 11, 1052 Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: vmj@sfi.dk.
authors.forename: Vibeke Myrup
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: The Danish National Centre for Social Research, Herluf Trolles Gade 11, 1052 Copenhagen, Denmark; Aarhus University RECEIV (Research Center for Early Interventions), Fuglesangs Allé, 8210 Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: miw@sfi.dk.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wüst
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001034:Apgar Score; D001946:Breech Presentation / Q000601:surgery*; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D000068104:Infant Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D000068097:Maternal Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy
keywords: Caesarean section; Child health; Maternal health; Procedure use; Regression discontinuity design