Associations among childbirth-related factors and cognitive, emotional and social development in early childhood

Birth both biologically and psychologically is a sensitive and even a critical experience for a newborn but its role for the further child’s development is still overlooked. There is growing evidence that the circumstances of birth are important for the physical development of children. Delivery by caesarean section is recognized risk factor for some of the health risks: short-term lung function impairment, long-term immune system impairment, asthma and allergies. Much less is known about the potential impact of childbirth-related factors on the psycho-social development. The aim of our study is to analyze the role of circumstances of birth in cognitive, emotional and social development of children up to 4 years of age, taking into account maternal psychological and social factors: personality traits, emotional state, and relationship with partner, maternity practices and characteristics of interactions with children. 284 children (54.2 % male and 53.2 % first-borns) and their mothers participated in the longitudinal study. The study results revealed that children born under different circumstances have different levels of emotional and behavioral problems evaluated by mothers and the biggest differences are observed between children born by vaginal delivery at home and born by emergency caesarean section. According to the researchers, children of both aforementioned groups had the highest self-regulatory and reasoning abilities compared to other participants of the research. Maternal variables such as maternal depression, attitudes to infant-care, maternal self-efficacy, maternal interactive style and quality of relationships with partner are mediating factors that help to explain the differences in the psycho-social development of children born under different circumstances