TABLE 2.
Risk of miscellaneous maternal postpartum complications among those without any formal medical indication for elective cesarean section: Planned cesarean section vs planned vaginal delivery
| Elective CS N = 22 855 | Vaginal trial of labor N = 691 471 | Crude RR | ARR | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | Per thousand | n | Per thousand | RR | 95% CI | ARR | 95% CI | |||
| Postpartum infections | ||||||||||
| Any a | 3737 | (163.5) | 70 873 | (102.5) | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| Endometritis | 388 | (17.0) | 9974 | (14.4) | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 |
| Wound infection | 355 | (15.5) | 3534 | (5.1) | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 3.0 |
| Urinary tract infection | 213 | (9.3) | 4209 | (6.1) | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.7 |
| Mastitis | 1052 | (46.0) | 14 853 | (21.5) | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 2.2 |
| Septicaemia | 7 | (0.3) | 149 | (0.2) | 1.4 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 3.0 |
| Antibiotics 0–14 days | 1758 | (76.9) | 39 680 | (57.4) | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
| Antibiotics 0–42 days | 2937 | (128.5) | 62 631 | (90.6) | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| Other complications | ||||||||||
| Pulmonary embolism | 19 | (0.8) | 323 | (0.5) | 1.8 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 2.6 |
| Venous thrombosis | 6 | (0.3) | 133 | (0.2) | 1.4 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
| Cerebral venous thrombosis | 4 | (0.2) | 51 | (0.1) | 2.4 | 0.9 | 6.6 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
Note: ARRs were computed adjusting for maternal age, parity, smoking, body mass index, country of birth, and county.
Abbreviations: ARR, adjusted RR; CI, confidence interval; CS, cesarean section; RR, risk ratio.
a
Endometritis, wound infection, urinary tract infection, mastitis, septicaemia, prescribed and dispensed antibiotics within 6 weeks.