“A CDC researcher’s 2006 study of 5.7 million U.S. births found that infants born by cesarean with no medical risk factors were nearly three times more likely to die within the first month of life than those born vaginally” (Pushed: The Painful Truth about Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care, Jennifer Block, pg. 49). 

And, that pretty much sums it up.  This study didn’t report that just any baby born by c-section is more likely to die, it revealed that babies born by elective c-section (“with no medical risk factors”) are almost 3 times more likely to die within a month of birth.  If you thought that choosing to deliver by c-section only put yourself at risk, think again. 

But it does put your life at risk too.  A mother is 4 times more likely to die after a cesarean, as opposed to a vaginal birth, according to a 2000 study, also cited in Jennifer’s excellent book (pg. xxv).   

The World Health Organization has determined that in a developed country, the c-section rate should not exceed 15% (pg. 49).  How do they get this number?  They look at the data and weigh the risks of cesarean against the lives and health saved by the surgery.  In America, the rate of c-section is about 33%.

Why so many c-sections?  It’s not just because of elective choice.  Unnecessary c-sections happen daily in order to protect hospitals and doctors from lawsuits.  Two-thirds of all American c-sections are unplanned and initiated during labor (pg. 58).  Jennifer Block, who studied the rate and cause of c-section in several large and small hospitals across the nation,  shares two main contributors to unnecessary c-sections:

• “The strongest predictor of surgical delivery is not health status or age, but where and with whom a woman gets care” (pg. 58).  Find a midwife, OB, birth center or hospital with a LOW rate of c-section. That’s the best thing you can do to protect you and your baby.
• Demand intermittant, personal fetal monitoring, not the Electronic Fetal Monitor (EFM).  “Nearly every doctor I talk to acknowledges that the monitors [EFM] only increase the chance of a cesarean but are required by the hospital for its legal protection…” (pg. 64). 

Related posts:

1. Pain with a Purpose: Benefits of the Natural Labor Process
2. Would you Like to Induce Labor?
3. The Business of Being Born
4. What’s a Good Reason to Induce?
5. Hot Topic: Private Cord Blood Banking?

Tags: c-section, childbirth

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