Giving birth vaginally does not appear to increase the risk of urinary incontinence in later life, says a University of Rochester Medical Center study appearing in the Obstetrics and Gynecology journal. The findings are based on postmenopausal biological sisters (one sister a mother, the other without children) who completed a comprehensive questionnaire about their incontinence symptoms and underwent a clinical evaluation for pelvic floor disorders.
The findings show no significant correlation between childbirth and urinary incontinence with 50 percent of the women who had given birth reporting some degree of urinary incontinence, compared to 48 percent of the women who had never given birth.
The findings are contrary to conventional thinking that vaginal delivery can result in urinary incontinence later in life. And even though the scientific literature is inconsistent on this link, an increasing number of women are electing to have caesarean sections for the sole purpose of preventing future incontinence.
The researchers believe that rather than childbirth, an underlying genetic predisposition seemed to play the largest role in determining the risk of incontinence. The figures seem to support this, showing that in 63 percent of the sisters, if one experienced urinary incontinence the other sister also did.
"The family history and genetic predisposition is something that definitely needs to be explored further," said study author, Gunhilde Buchsbaum. "If we can find a clear genetic link, it would have great implications for the direction of basic research, treatment approaches, risk management and potential prophylactic interventions."
Source: University of Rochester Medical Center
