Editing Caesarean section (section)

===By urgency===
Conventionally, caesarean sections are classified as being either an [[elective surgery]] or an [[emergency]] operation.<ref name="classification 2000">{{cite journal | vauthors = Lucas DN, Yentis SM, Kinsella SM, Holdcroft A, May AE, Wee M, Robinson PN | title = Urgency of caesarean section: a new classification | journal = Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine | volume = 93 | issue = 7 | pages = 346–350 | date = July 2000 | pmid = 10928020 | pmc = 1298057 | doi = 10.1177/014107680009300703 }}</ref> Classification is used to help communication between the obstetric, midwifery and anaesthetic team for discussion of the most appropriate method of anaesthesia. The decision whether to perform [[general anesthesia]] or [[regional anesthesia]] (spinal or epidural anaesthetic) is important and is based on many indications, including how urgent the delivery needs to be as well as the medical and obstetric history of the woman.<ref name="classification 2000"/> Regional anaesthetic is almost always safer for the woman and the baby but sometimes general anaesthetic is safer for one or both, and the classification of urgency of the delivery is an important issue affecting this decision.

A planned caesarean (or elective/scheduled caesarean), arranged ahead of time, is most commonly arranged for medical indications which have developed before or during the pregnancy, and ideally after 39 weeks of gestation. In the UK, this is classified as a 'grade 4' section (delivery timed to suit the mother or hospital staff) or as a 'grade 3' section (no maternal or fetal compromise but early delivery needed).
Emergency caesarean sections are performed in pregnancies in which a vaginal delivery was planned initially, but an indication for caesarean delivery has since developed. In the UK they are further classified as grade 2 (delivery required within 90 minutes of the decision but no immediate threat to the life of the woman or the fetus) or grade 1 (delivery required within 30 minutes of the decision: immediate threat to the life of the mother or the baby or both.)<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Miheso J, Burns S |title=Care of women undergoing emergency caesarean section|url=https://www.wwl.nhs.uk/Library/FOI/Requests/2013-2014/July_2013/1678_Emergency_Caesarean_Section_Jul12.pdf|website=NHS Choices|access-date=7 March 2018|archive-date=8 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308103403/https://www.wwl.nhs.uk/Library/FOI/Requests/2013-2014/July_2013/1678_Emergency_Caesarean_Section_Jul12.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Elective caesarean sections may be performed based on an obstetrical or medical indication, or because of a medically non-indicated [[Caesarean delivery on maternal request|maternal request]].<ref name=NICE2011 /> Among women in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Australia, about 7% preferred caesarean section as a method of delivery.<ref name=NICE2011 /> In cases without medical indications the [[American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists]] and the UK Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommend a planned vaginal delivery.<ref name=ACOG559>{{cite journal | vauthors =  | title = ACOG committee opinion no. 559: Cesarean delivery on maternal request | journal = Obstetrics and Gynecology | volume = 121 | issue = 4 | pages = 904–907 | date = April 2013 | pmid = 23635708 | doi = 10.1097/01.AOG.0000428647.67925.d3 }}</ref> The [[National Institute for Health and Care Excellence]] recommends that if after a woman has been provided information on the risk of a planned caesarean section and she still insists on the procedure it should be provided.<ref name=NICE2011 /> If provided this should be done at 39 weeks of gestation or later.<ref name=ACOG559/> There is no evidence that ECS can reduce mother-to-child [[Hepatitis B virus|hepatitis B]] and [[hepatitis C virus]] transmission.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Yang J, Zeng XM, Men YL, Zhao LS | title = Elective caesarean section versus vaginal delivery for preventing mother to child transmission of hepatitis B virus--a systematic review | journal = Virology Journal | volume = 5 | issue = 1 | pages = 100 | date = August 2008 | pmid = 18755018 | pmc = 2535601 | doi = 10.1186/1743-422X-5-100 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Borgia G, Carleo MA, Gaeta GB, Gentile I | title = Hepatitis B in pregnancy | journal = World Journal of Gastroenterology | volume = 18 | issue = 34 | pages = 4677–4683 | date = September 2012 | pmid = 23002336 | pmc = 3442205 | doi = 10.3748/wjg.v18.i34.4677 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hu Y, Chen J, Wen J, Xu C, Zhang S, Xu B, Zhou YH | title = Effect of elective cesarean section on the risk of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus | journal = BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | pages = 119 | date = May 2013 | pmid = 23706093 | pmc = 3664615 | doi = 10.1186/1471-2393-13-119 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = McIntyre PG, Tosh K, McGuire W | title = Caesarean section versus vaginal delivery for preventing mother to infant hepatitis C virus transmission | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | volume = 2006 | issue = 4 | pages = CD005546 | date = October 2006 | pmid = 17054264 | pmc = 8895451 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD005546.pub2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title = A significant sex--but not elective cesarean section--effect on mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis C virus infection | journal = The Journal of Infectious Diseases | volume = 192 | issue = 11 | pages = 1872–1879 | date = December 2005 | pmid = 16267757 | doi = 10.1086/497695 | doi-access = free | author1 = European Paediatric Hepatitis C Virus Network }}</ref>