The Australian study included 2,345 pregnant women who had one previous delivery by C-section and were considered candidates for VBAC.
Planned C-section deliveries were scheduled for 1,108 women and VBAC deliveries were planned for the remaining 1,237 women.
But less than half (43%) of the women who chose to labor ended up having vaginal deliveries. The rest had elective C-sections or had emergency surgical deliveries due to complications.
There were two unexplained stillbirths in the planned vaginal delivery group. There were no infant deaths among babies born to women who had scheduled cesarean section.
2 Stillbirths in Planned VBAC Group continued...
The rate of fetal or infant death or serious health issues prior to hospital discharge was 2.4% in the planned VBAC group, compared to 0.9% in the planned C-section group.
The researchers concluded that while the actual risk for both forms of delivery was quite small,
elective repeat C-sections were associated with significantly lower risk for both mother and baby.
Uterine Rupture Linked to Repeat C-Section
In a related study, researchers in the U.K. found that repeat C-sections raised the risk for uterine rupture, a rare but very serious pregnancy complication.
Risk was highest among women who had two or more prior C-sections and those who had repeat C-sections less than 12 months after the last C-section.
Of the 159 uterine ruptures identified in the study, 139 occurred among women who had previously had a C-section.
Both studies appear in the March issue of the journal
PLoS Medicine.