Abstract

Objective:Although several studies have reported lower birth rates subsequent to Caesarean section (CS) in comparison with vaginal delivery (VD), there is no consensus yet. In addition, there is not any study focusing on the association between difficult transfer and a history of CS. We aimed to reveal these two issues.

Material and methods:This retrospective cohort study was conducted at private IVF center. Medical records of all patients presented with the diagnosis of secondary infertility. Group I included 47 patients with a history of at least one CS, group II included 33 patients with a history of VD. In order to compare the rate of CS among secondary infertile women at our clinic (59%) with the official CS rate in Turkey (45%), we performed Z score analysis.

Results:Calculated Z value was higher (2,55) than the statistically significant Z score level (1,96) which reflects a probably higher rate of infertility among women with a history of CS. We came upon difficulty during embryo transfer in four cases all of which were in group I. The implantation rates for CS and ND groups were 19,7% and 27,3% respectively. Even though there was a tendency in favor of ND group it did not reach a statistically significant level.

Conclusion:There seems an association between CS and subsequent infertility. The probability of encountering a difficult embryo transfer may also be a concern in case of IVF treatment.

Keywords

Caesarean section, Infertility, Embryo transfer, Vaginal delivery, Diagnosis of secondary infertility, Embryo transfer, Health concern, Pregnant women, Version and extraction, Post-operative period, Inter-birth interval, Infertility, Subfertility