Effects of Birth Experience on Relational Memory in Adults

Recent evidence has emerged that being born via planned or emergency cesarean section delivery (CSD) compared to vaginal delivery (VD) not only led to slower allocation of attention in human infants and adults but also affected hippocampal regions responsible for memory in mice. This is concerning as the number of C-sections has risen in the past two decades according to the World Health Organization. Therefore, the current study investigated if a higher-order cognitive function like relational memory, is also affected by CSD and if these effects last into adulthood. Birth experience effects on item-item, item-space and item-time relational memory along with item recognition were assessed in adult participants using a task developed by Konkel et al. (2008). Results indicated that the item-item memory performance was affected by CSD with planned CSD adults showing poorer recognition compared to emergency CSD adults. No differences in memory performance were found between either of the CSD groups and the VD group in any of the relational conditions. As relational binding has implications in forming autobiographical memories and connections between our past, present and future states, healthcare professionals should discuss with expecting mothers the potential long-term effects of planned CSD on their infants’ cognitive development.