The Labor Market and Health Impacts of Reducing Cesarean Section Deliveries

Sarah Miller, Petra Persson, Maya Rossin-Slater and Laura Wherry

No 34556, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We study an intervention that reduced cesarean deliveries among low-risk first-time mothers, using California birth records linked to earnings data. Exposed mothers were 8% less likely to have a c-section, with no adverse health effects. We find suggestive evidence that they were more likely to return to their pre-birth employer and had higher within-firm earnings rankings in the quarter post-birth. These labor market gains fade over time. However, mothers who had a second child were less likely to have a c-section or preterm delivery, suggesting our estimated effects from avoiding a first c-section may be lower bounds on total gains.

JEL-codes: I14 I15 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-hea
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