Anesthesia not harmful to babies during birth process

    Moms undergoing Cesarean delivery no longer need to feel guilty about exposing their infants to anesthesia. Mayo Clinic researchers have found that children exposed to anesthesia during Cesarean section are not at any higher risk for learning disabilities later in life than children not delivered by C-section. 

    "We found that the incidence of learning disabilities was equal between children who were delivered vaginally and those who were delivered via C-section but with general anesthesia," said Juraj Sprung, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist who led the study. "It's reassuring that the anesthetics required for Cesarean delivery do not appear to cause long-term brain problems." 

    Not only did the researchers find that the use of anesthesia during delivery was not harmful to the baby, they found that babies delivered by Cesarean using an epidural anesthetic - which numbs only the lower region of the body and does not involve the mother going to sleep - had a substantially reduced risk for learning disabilities later in life. 

    "The risk was reduced by about 40 percent compared to children delivered vaginally and those delivered via Cesarean section but with general anesthesia," said Sprung.