Objective: To determine whether planned route of delivery leads to differences in neonatal morbidity.
Study design: Analysis was based on planned route of delivery, not actual route of delivery. A total of 4048 subjects were divided into two groups: planned vaginal delivery and planned cesarean delivery. Primary outcomes were neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, respiratory morbidity and neurologic morbidity.
Result: There were 3868 planned vaginal and 180 planned cesarean deliveries. Planned vaginal delivery had decreased NICU admission (P<0.0001), oxygen resuscitation (P=0.001) and jaundice (P<0.0001) but increased meconium passage (P<0.0001) and 1 min Apgar <or=5 (P=0.02). After multivariable regression, NICU admission remained lower and meconium passage remained higher in the planned vaginal group.
Conclusion: Planned vaginal delivery led to more meconium passage and low 1 min Apgar but less NICU admissions, oxygen resuscitation and jaundice. Multicenter trials are needed to assess rare but serious outcomes based on planned route of delivery.