[Prognosis for delivery in women with previous cesarean section. Apropos of 209 cases].

The authors have attempted to show the following with the help of 209 cases of delivery in women who had previously had Caesarean sections: Vaginal delivery is possible in approximately one out of every two cases, providing certain precautions have been taken and these are: Maternal morbidity rises to about 12% when a woman is delivered after a previous Caesarean section, whether the delivery is vaginal or, a repeat Caesarean. Furthermore, morbidity rises greatly after a failure of a trial of labour for which the indications should be very carefully considered. The outlook for the fetus is better after a vaginal delivery. In fact, this result seems to be allied to pathology which results from the surgical procedure itself. All the same, respiratory distress in the newborn is more frequent after Caesarean operation, which exposes the fetus to the risks of a uterine rupture and also of increased incidence of instrumental delivery following a previous Caesarean.