More Women Choosing C-Sections, Study Says
By EMMA ROSS, AP
LONDON (Nov. 19) - New research bolsters a growing body of evidence that an
increasing proportion of women in the industrialized world are choosing to
give birth by Caesarean section when there is no clear medical need.
Caesarean sections are still uncommon, but a study published this week in
the British Medical Journal has found that the rate of elective C-section among
American expectant mothers with uncomplicated pregnancies has increased by
67 percent since 1991, with a gradual rise from 1991 to 1996 and a rapid one
thereafter.
The researchers, from Boston University in the United States, analyzed U.S.
national birth certificate data and found that in 2001, there were 80,028
elective Caesarean sections performed in cases where there was no clear medical
need.
That's a tiny fraction of America's 4 million annual births, but more than
triple the 25,162 elective C-sections recorded in 1996.
Older mothers having their first child were the most likely to opt for a
medically unnecessary C-section, the study found. Almost one-fifth of first-time
mothers over 34 had such a delivery in 2001.
But the rate also grew among expectant mothers under 30, with 5 percent of
them now having elective C-sections, the study found.
Similar trends are emerging in industrialized countries in Europe and South
America. One study found a 90 percent Caesarean section rate among some
regional populations in Brazil.
Side effects, which can be life-threatening, include hemorrhage, infection,
infertility and blood clots. Possibly more important, one C-section brings
even more risks to future pregnancies.
Many women who opt for C-sections cite fears over pelvic floor muscle
problems and resulting urinary incontinence among their reasons, but convenience
and control over the schedule remains a dominant motivation.
"Like everything else, the pendulum swings back and forth. We had the
reactionary movement of the 70s and 80s about natural childbirth, people went to
the middle ground in the 80s and 90s about getting pain relief but trying for
vaginal birth," he said. "Now we're going back to this even more extreme
interventional approach."
"It's in our desire for perfection and complete control over life," he
Rebarber said.
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human Lactation
Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative
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