Agenda

Angelica GUZZON
PhD Student in Economics
36^th cycle

Full title: Mode of delivery and long-term child outcomes: Evidence from the United Kingdom

Abstract:

Caesarean sections are on the rise worldwide, and while their impact on maternal outcomes has been well-studied, it is still not clear what long-term consequences caesarean sections have on children. I investigate the effect of an emergency (i.e. not planned) caesarean delivery on the child’s outcomes 9 months after birth and in the longer run, up to 11 years of age. I exploit data on 5,004 first-time mothers and their children from the Millennium Cohort Study, a longitudinal survey of the 2000/2001 birth cohort in the United Kingdom. To address endogeneity I employ an instrumental variable approach that leverages the exogenous variation in the position of the baby in utero – feet-first (breech) vs head-first – at the time of birth, together with hospital and month of birth fixed effects. I find no evidence of a negative impact of C-sections on child health, and a negative impact on cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. Using survey data on maternal investments and breastfeeding I offer some suggestive evidence of the potential mechanisms at play.

The seminar can be attended also remotely, connecting to ZOOM.

Link Zoom: bit.ly/insem-2425
ID riunione:  880 2639 9452
Passcode: InSem-2425