A study released yesterday in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology confirms one thing we already knew:  the rate of cesarean births is rising–it has doubled since 1996 and now accounts for one third of all births in the U.S.

What it also shows is that elective c-sections aren’t the culprit.  Only nine percent of scheduled cesareans are performed for non-medical reasons (making them truly elective).  The real rise in c-sections may be due to the practice of inducing labor before baby and mom are really ready.

The study of 230,000 deliveries shows that moms who are induced are twice as likely to have a cesarean birth as moms whose labor starts spontaneously.  And after labor does start, almost half of c-sections happen because of “failure to progress.”  Research seems to show that inducing, even when baby is considered full term, carries certain risks.  But lots of doctors choose to do it anyway.

There’s nothing wrong with choosing a c-section–the problem here is that moms who don’t want a c-section are ending up with one anyway. Continue reading »

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I’m a veteran of two c-section births and a staunch opponent of the sanctimommy attitude that it’s somehow the worst thing ever. That said, even I was shocked by this news: The US c-section rate has now topped 32 percent. That means one out of every three children in the United States is born that way — or was in 2007, the last for which figures were available.

That sobering statistic comes from a National Center for Health Statistics report released yesterday. Continue reading »

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Concerned that doctors and hospitals are thinking more about legal ramifications, rather than a woman’s health, the National Institutes of Health issued a statement today essentially telling doctors and hospitals to stop banning vaginal births after cesareans.

Instead, a NIH consensus panel recommended that pregnant women and their caregivers use evidence-based decision-making in deciding whether to attempt a trial of labor rather than scheduling a c-section. In other words, enough with the anecdotes, we know you’re putting potential lawsuits ahead of patients, look at the science. Continue reading »

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Almost one-third of all US births are by Cesarean section, the highest rate ever. Doctors are expressing concern about why this is happening, and some researchers are studying techniques that could help lower the rate of c-section births.

C-sections are one of those topics that can get people scrambling to their battle sections in seconds, so the balanced, well-researched tone of this excellent Detroit Free Press article is very welcome. Reporter Patricia Anstett lays out the reasons doctors believe C-section rates are climbing, Continue reading »

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