NSW Health document linking caesareans to autism and cancer slammed
A hospital document given to pregnant women wrongly linking caesarean births to autism, ADHD, cancer and delayed development has been slammed for ‘shaming’ women who need a caesarean.
NSW
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NSW Health has been forced to take down an online information pamphlet wrongly linking caesarean births to autism, cancer, diabetes and a multitude of other negative outcomes.
The pamphlet, produced by Women’s and Newborn Health at Westmead Hospital called ‘What you need to know about a caesarean birth’ claimed that compared to vaginal birth, caesareans were associated with a 33 per cent increase in having an autistic child, a 70 per cent chance of delayed early childhood milestones, a 16 per cent chance of leukaemia and a host of other negative impacts including asthma, obesity, diabetes, ADHD and poor school performances, but the data is not sourced and health experts say it is incorrect.
Obstetrician Dr Kara Thompson said she was very surprised by the way the information was presented.
“I mean you read this and think 70 per cent of kids who have a caesarean have delayed childhood outcomes, and this is the problem with statistics, you can make anything look terrifying,” Dr Thompson said.
“It is absolutely shaming. There is a lot of pressure on some women to have the perfect birth and if they needed a caesarean for any reason, it would make them feel guilty and blame themselves.”
Just over one in three births are by caesarean in NSW and it is hospital policy to push for natural births.
Dr Thompson said there were potential associations that were being studied, but there was no evidence of caesareans causing any of the conditions listed and factors like maternal age, genetics, premature births and other issues are not taken into account.
“It appears to imply caesareans cause these things which we just don’t have evidence of and as a parent considering a caesarean for various different reasons, if you read that pamphlet you would be scared and terrified of what a caesarean may cause,” Dr Thompson said.
“Very few caesareans are done for maternal request overall, so there is generally a reason for caesarean whether that be maternal age, gestation or the baby is stuck or breech, it could be anything, but there is no causation.”
Amy Dawes, founder of the Australasian Birth Trauma Association, said she was shocked to see the guidelines put out by NSW Health.
“We can only think of the ramifications for women who are accessing this information as part of their ante natal education of stumbled upon it after an emergency caesarean, and it is one in five women who end up with having an emergency C-section, what are the impacts of the shame and as a result their child might end up with these health problems that are not substantiated,” Ms Dawes said.
The document also claims a 40 per cent increase in a stillbirth in a subsequent pregnancy.
“Where are these statistics coming from? Doesn’t NSW Health have a duty of care to ensure the information they are putting out should be evidenced-based,” Ms Dawes said.
“Imagine a woman pregnant with a second child after a previous caesarean, accessing this information, what are the mental health implications of that, the women we support as an organisation have had a caesarean and many talk of a sense of failure, like they did their birth wrong and with this they now think they may have somehow damaged their child.”
A spokeswoman for the Western Sydney Local Health District apologised and said they would investigate.
“Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) apologises for any concern or offence caused by the publication of this document,” she said.
“We do not endorse the information expressed in the document and have removed it from the WSLHD website.
“We are currently in the process of reviewing our website upload protocols and approval processes to ensure we only publish authorised documents.”
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