Giving birth naturally after delivering a previous child by Caesarean carries a higher, albeit small, risk to the newborn, British researchers said. The leading causes of death were a rupturing of the uterus in the latter stages of the pregnancy and a lack of oxygen reaching the infant during a vaginal birth, the report said.

The study of five years of Scottish birth records found 20 newborn deaths among 15,000 births to women who had previously had a Caesarean but carried their subsequent pregnancy to term for either a vaginal delivery or an unplanned Caesarean.
The mortality rate for these infants was 11 times higher than that faced by newborns of women who underwent a planned repeat Caesarean, and more than double the rate of babies born to women giving birth naturally for at least the second time. However, the risk was about the same as that faced by women giving birth naturally for the first time. Bureau Report