Among women with a previous caesarean section, giving birth via a subsequent planned vaginal birth is associated with an increased risk for undergoing later pelvic floor surgery, according to a study published in PLOS Medicine.

Dr Kathryn Fitzpatrick (PhD), from the University of Oxford in the UK, and colleagues examined the association between planned mode of birth after previous caesarean section and the woman’s subsequent risk for undergoing pelvic floor surgery.

The analysis included data from 47,414 singleton term births in Scotland between 1983 and 1996 to women with one or more previous caesarean sections followed for a median 22.1 years.

The researchers found that the crude incidence rate of any pelvic floor surgery was 1.35 per 1000 person-years in the overall study population, 1.75 in the planned vaginal birth after previous caesarean (VBAC) group, and 0.66 in the elective repeat caesarean section (ERCS) group.