By Agencies via Xinhua

　　LONDON -shavingsa Caesarean delivery may increase the risk ofshavingsa stillbirth in a second pregnancy, researchers said recently.

　　Doctors at the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge, England, who studied data on 120,00 births in Scotland between 1992 and 1998, found that stillbirths were more likely among women who had previously had a child by Caesarean surgery.

　　"Delivery by Caesarean section in the first pregnancy could increase the risk of unexplained stillbirth in the second," Gordon Smith, who headed the research team, said in a report in The Lancet medical journal.

　　"Our best estimate is that for every 1,000 women with a previous Caesarean section there will be one additional stillbirth in comparison if they hadn't had a previous Caesarean section," he added in an interview.

　　Doctors are not sure why the surgery increases the risk of stillbirth but they suspect repairing the uterus after the surgery could affect the function of the placenta, which nourishes the foetus, in a future pregnancy.

　　Scarred tissue also works less well than unscarred tissue.

　　"This is a factor that women should takesintosaccount when deciding to have a Caesarean section," Smith said.

　　"Our results are of relevance for women considering Caesarean delivery who are planning future pregnancies."