Cesarean Sections for High-Risk Births: Health, Fertility and Labor Market Outcomes
(2018) In Working Papers- Abstract
- Despite the fact that Cesarean section (C-section) is the most commonly performed surgery in a number of industrialized countries, little is known about the long-term consequences for the mothers and children involved. In this study, I use a sample of high-risk births—namely, breech births, in which the fetus is presented with its head upward instead of downward—to study the causal effect of C-sections on child health and on the health, fertility and labor market responses for mothers. Because selection into C-section may be endogenous, I exploit an information shock to doctors in 2000, in which new scientific evidence about the benefits of planned C-sections for breech births led to a sharp 23% increase in planned C-sections. Using... (More)
- Despite the fact that Cesarean section (C-section) is the most commonly performed surgery in a number of industrialized countries, little is known about the long-term consequences for the mothers and children involved. In this study, I use a sample of high-risk births—namely, breech births, in which the fetus is presented with its head upward instead of downward—to study the causal effect of C-sections on child health and on the health, fertility and labor market responses for mothers. Because selection into C-section may be endogenous, I exploit an information shock to doctors in 2000, in which new scientific evidence about the benefits of planned C-sections for breech births led to a sharp 23% increase in planned C-sections. Using Swedish registry data, I find that having a C-section improves child health in both the short and long run, indicated by higher Apgar scores at birth and fewer nights hospitalized during ages 1-7. I find little evidence to suggest any significant impact on maternal health, future fertility or maternal labor market outcomes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/6723146d-c867-42eb-8ac3-340e4b58aecd
- author
- Muhlrad, Hanna LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018
- type
- Working paper/Preprint
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Cesarean Section, Fertility, Maternal Health, Child Health, Birth Technology, Labor Market Outcomes, I11, I12, I38, J13, J24
- in
- Working Papers
- issue
- 2018:35
- pages
- 56 pages
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 6723146d-c867-42eb-8ac3-340e4b58aecd
- date added to LUP
- 2018-11-26 16:17:56
- date last changed
- 2024-09-15 00:30:48
@misc{6723146d-c867-42eb-8ac3-340e4b58aecd, abstract = {{Despite the fact that Cesarean section (C-section) is the most commonly performed surgery in a number of industrialized countries, little is known about the long-term consequences for the mothers and children involved. In this study, I use a sample of high-risk births—namely, breech births, in which the fetus is presented with its head upward instead of downward—to study the causal effect of C-sections on child health and on the health, fertility and labor market responses for mothers. Because selection into C-section may be endogenous, I exploit an information shock to doctors in 2000, in which new scientific evidence about the benefits of planned C-sections for breech births led to a sharp 23% increase in planned C-sections. Using Swedish registry data, I find that having a C-section improves child health in both the short and long run, indicated by higher Apgar scores at birth and fewer nights hospitalized during ages 1-7. I find little evidence to suggest any significant impact on maternal health, future fertility or maternal labor market outcomes.}}, author = {{Muhlrad, Hanna}}, keywords = {{Cesarean Section; Fertility; Maternal Health; Child Health; Birth Technology; Labor Market Outcomes; I11; I12; I38; J13; J24}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Working Paper}}, number = {{2018:35}}, series = {{Working Papers}}, title = {{Cesarean Sections for High-Risk Births: Health, Fertility and Labor Market Outcomes}}, url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/195177512/WP18_35.pdf}}, year = {{2018}}, }