14 DAY TRIAL // Statistics in the United States show a worrying trend among pregnant women. As much as 33 percent of all pregnancies end with the women delivering their infants via cesarean section (C-section), rather than the old-fashioned way. The trend is not a positive one, experts say.
In the decade between 1996 and 2007, it is estimated that the number of unneeded C-sections rose throughout the US by as much as 50 percent. The correlation held true regardless of women's ethnicities and race.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that this is an all time high. The organization also says that there is no reason for women who can give birth naturally not to do so.
Experts say that C-sections should only be common among women who become mothers for the second or more time. But “the most concerning problem is the high rate in first-time mothers,” explains Dr. Jun Zhang.
The expert is one of the coauthors of a new investigation on cesarean delivery practices. He holds an appointment as a medical researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The work appears in the September issue of the esteemed American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
For this investigation, the expert and his team analyzed more than 228,600 medical records of women who delivered babies at some 19 medical centers and hospitals. The researchers were looking for the reasons why women resorted to this practice for delivery.
One of the main discoveries that the team made was that hospitals around the country, as well as would-be mothers, had the tendency to streamline the birth process, including labor and delivery. An increased number of C-sections is a direct result of this.
“Most times the decision to perform a C-section is based on the physician's judgment, but there are great variations in decision-making among physicians,” Zhang explains. For example, the surgery can be undertaken when doctors discover that the umbilical cord is wrapped around the infant's neck.
The expert says that, while C-sections can save the life of both mothers and children, there are currently very few guidelines to help doctors make the best decision for each individual case they are faced with.
The study also revealed that the rising number of C-sections is related to the public health epidemics currently sweeping in the United States, such as obesity. IVF is also allowing for older women to have children, and they usually cannot deliver naturally.
Another reason why the rate of these surgeries is increasing is the fact that doctors practice “legal medicine,” rather than the real kind. There are no laws to protect physicians in the event that something happens when a woman gives birth naturally after delivering through C-section.
The risks associated with this are very small, and yet physicians usually steer clear of recommending this. A new legal framework is needed to change this mentality among healthcare experts as well, the team explains.
“We're fighting a cultural issue. We need to change the entire way we view birth and we have to be able to trust our caregivers. The alternative would be terrifying,” explains expert Krista Cornish Scott.
She holds an appointment as the education director of the ICAN (the International Cesarean Awareness Network), LiveScience reports.