Cesarean surgery is quite a common occurrence nowadays. The essence of the cesarean surgery lies in making an incision in the woman's uterus and abdomen and helping the baby out. Cesarean surgery can be either planned, in other words predetermined in advance by objective reasons, or unplanned, caused by unforeseen circumstances, discovered once the labor has already begun. Statistics show that the Cesarean surgery is done in over 20 per cent of child birth cases. Although Cesarean section seems to have entered the world of medicine long ago, the risk of cesarean has not reduced. Unfortunately, but it extends on both the mother and the child.

Taking into account the risks of cesarean, it is plain to see that normal vaginal delivery is much safer. But there are cases when the prospective mother doesn't have any choice. Cesarean risk for mother includes the following: infection, bowel or bladder injuries, excessive bleeding, blood clots, postpartum pain and this list is far from being complete. It stands to reason that the mom will have to spend a long time at the hospital going through the recovery process.Cesarean risk for mother is not limited by immediate consequences. It can have a negative impact on the future pregnancies, resulting in placenta accrete and placenta previa abnormalities.

The reality of risks of cesarean can hardly be denied, but still in certain cases not doing it means risking the baby's well-being and that of the prospective mother. Among the reasons which make the Cesarean surgery pre-requisite are: previous Cesarean section with vertical incision (in the case of the horizontal uterine incision, vaginal birth is still possible); uterine surgery, especially an invasive one; expected triplets (quadruplets or more), the expected large baby. In the last two cases Cesarean surgery will serve to eliminate the risk of substantial vaginal trauma. Diabetic moms generally go in for Cesarean sections. Certain positions of the baby, such as transverse or breech positions, may call for the cesarean section. Fetal diseases make Cesarean section required, so do placenta previa and placental abruption. HIV positive mother with a high load of the virus will hardly do without a cesarean section.

Unplanned section can be as significant of a source of risk of cesarean as the planned operation. The symptoms making vaginal delivery impossible, for instance the cervix not dilating or the baby not moving in the canal, necessitate the cesarean surgery. Major risks of cesarean may be the following: unstoppable bleeding, drug reaction, massive infection. Needless to say that any of these consequences can be life-threatening. However, sad enough the risks of cesarean doesn't solely confine to the cesarean risk for mother. Cesarean risk for baby consists in the fact that he is likely to have problems with breathing. Some mothers also account their problems with breastfeeding to the consequences of the cesarean section. In this light abdominal birth is considered inferior to vaginal.