Neonatal seizures after cesarean delivery: higher risk with labor

A study was done on the occurrence of neonatal seizures in 14,367 infants delivered by cesarean section in a perinatal region in 4 years. Although seizures occurred in 1% of all of these infants, small infants weighing less than 2500 gm at birth had the highest frequency (greater than 4%). Term infants delivered before labor (repeat cesarean section) had the lowest seizure rate (less than 0.2%), and this was a significantly lower (four times) frequency than that seen in term infants delivered by primary cesarean section. These data suggest that brain function as indexed by neonatal seizures can be adversely affected during labor.