Does Advanced Maternal Age Comprise an Independent Risk Factor for Caesarean Section? A Population-Wide Study

Abstract

The paper aims to investigate the association between the mother's age and the risk of caesarean section when controlling for health factors and selected socio-demographic characteristics. The analysis employs anonymized individual data on all women who gave birth in Czechia in 2018 (N=111,749 mothers who gave birth to 113,234 children). The data contains information on the woman's reproductive history, the use of assisted reproduction technology treatment, the course of pregnancy, childbirth and the newborn. Results show that delaying reproduction increases the risk of a CS birth even for women considered obstetrically low-risk due to their having had a singleton pregnancy without any associated health complications.