Dear Friends:
     The cesarean section rate is rising in the USA again, to 23%, the
national rate. Regional rates vary according to the 1994 figures from the
Medical Leadership Council: from 16% to 19. 9%  in some western states, to
22%-29% in East Coast states.
     It is also disturbing to note that in the USA, the number of inductions
in 1997 was 18.4%, and the number of augmentations was 17.4% (and 16.4% for
CNM deliveries).
     The trend is towards more interference with birth, including elective
cesarean section.
     That means more and more babies who will be drugged at birth, unable or
unwilling to breastfeed, and much more work for us.
     Warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI, CCE
craniosacral therapy practitioner
Elkins Park (a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; northeastern USA)
supporting the WHO Code and the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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