Comparison of Malondialdehyde Level in the Cord Blood of Newborn Infants of vaginal and cesarean deliveries

Abstract

The oxidative stress injury that has been linked to poor perinatal outcome and birth asphyxia may be found even with normal pregnancy, and it is severity in a newborn may be related to modes of delivery for which our study aimed to identify. Furthermore, this study was aimed to study the effect of both related- maternal, and related neonatal characteristics on baby’s oxidative stress marker level (Malondialdehyde). Fifty newborn children were selected in both labor ward and operating theatre of Al-Sadder Teaching Hospital, Misan, Iraq. They were divided into two groups. The first group comprised 28 newborns, who were born by a vaginal delivery; the second group consisted of 22 newborns who delivered by elective cesarean section. The laboratory measurement of levels of an important antioxidant factor [malondialdehyde (MDA)] in baby’s cord blood has been extracted and used as an indicator of stress. We compared the two samples of different malondialdehyde levels in relation to variables as the delivery type, some maternal, fetal and neonatal characteristics. The results of this study revealed that MDA level was higher among neonates delivered through Elective Cesareans Section than those delivered through Vaginal Delivery with significant statistical value (p>0.0001). The previous delivery mood has a statistically significant value of (p>0.02) among mothers who had no previous deliveries. While there were no significant statistical values regarding maternal characteristics as (ages, parity, residency, antenatal care, history of previous abortion, and body mass index) as well as fetal and neonatal characteristics as (sex, birth weight, fetal presentation, and Apgar score) and high MDA level. The current study was concluded that babies delivered by Elective Cesarean Section had been exposed to more oxidative stress compared to the normal Vaginal Deliveries especially for the Primigravidas.