Paternal age and risk for cesarean delivery

Objective: To determine whether advanced paternal age is associated with increased risk for cesarean delivery. Study design: We used the 1990-2002 US linked live birth and infant death data files restricted to primiparous Caucasian and African-American women that delivered a singleton birth at ≥20 week's gestation (12.5 million). We examined temporal trends and risk ratios of cesarean birth in relation to paternal age before and after adjustments for known confounders. Results: Among Caucasians, the cesarean delivery rates were 21.1%, 26.7% and 31.8% in fathers aged 20-29, 30-39 and ≥40 years, respectively. Among African-Americans, the corresponding rates were 24.1%, 33.2%, and 38.1%, respectively. These increased cesarean delivery rates persisted in analyses stratified by maternal age before and after adjustment for a variety of confounders. Conclusions: These findings suggest that increasing paternal age may be associated with an increased risk for cesarean delivery in primiparous women.