Women who have given birth vaginally and now have stress urinary incontinence won’t be shocked that a study has confirmed what we already knew – vaginal childbirth causes more long term incontinence than childbirth by caesarean section. That makes sense, considering the pelvic floor trauma that a body goes through while delivering vaginally. It’s like stretching a rubber band until it’s just about to snap, and then expecting it to have the same elasticity as it did before; highly unlikely. While c-sections come with their own set of risks and complications, the pelvic floor remains intact.
Our own unofficial neighbourhood survey of moms came out with similar results to the study – the moms who delivered vaginally were more likely to mention their occasional incidents of leakage compared to the moms who had delivered by c-section.
It’s great to have this knowledge compiled into an official medical study, as it’s one more way to generate awareness about SUI as a health issue, especially as it relates to childbirth and post-partum recovery.
Here are three different news article summaries of the same report findings:
Medical Research.com offers a Q&A format with the lead researcher for this study. He covers the results and key take-aways, including validating one of the causes of SUI (childbirth) and identifying SUI as a consideration for patients and doctors prior to delivery
Medical News Bulletin provides a quick summary of some key findings and introduces pelvic floor health as a consideration in the vaginal delivery vs c-section decision for women
US News & World Report covers the study results and includes commentary from two experts in the United States about the risks of caesarean section