C-sections are sometimes needed for the health of the mother
or baby, the high rates found throughout the country are vastly higher
than what is considered normal.
Consumer Reports investigated more than 1,500 hospitals in 22 states, rating the hospitals from lowest to highest C-section rates for women who anticipated low-risk deliveries.
This included women who hadn’t had a C-section before, didn’t deliver prematurely, and were pregnant with a single baby, who was positioned properly, the report explained. It covered births between 2009 and 2012.
Based on the investigation, the number of C-sections performed in the U.S is up 500 percent since 1970 and continues to rise.
The rates were not restricted to any specific states or areas. Often neighboring hospitals would have dramatically different C-section rates. For example, at the Los Angeles Community Hospital almost 55 percent of pregnant women anticipating low-risk deliveries underwent a C-section.
However, at California Medical Center, also located in Los Angeles, the rate of C-sections was only 15 percent.
Having a C-section does not automatically mean better outcomes for mother and baby. It is a major operation. Women who have C-sections take longer to recover from giving birth compared to women who had vaginal deliveries.
In women who had a C-section, 19 percent reported pain being a major problem in the two months following the surgery, while only 11 percent of women who gave birth vaginally reported the same. Also, in women who had C-sections, the pain is more likely to last six months or longer.
Although life-threatening complications are rare in births in the United States, low-risk women undergoing their first C-section are three times more likely to suffer serious complications compared to women who give birth vaginally.
“C-sections increase the risk of mortality and complications, but we’re just becoming aware of the down stream affect,” Dr. Kent Heyborne, chief of obstetrics at Denver Health Medical Center, explained to Consumer Reports.
Based on the information provided by Consumer Reports, C-sections put a mother at a higher risk for developing severe bleeding, blood clots, heart attack, kidney failure, and major infections.CONTINUE READING
Consumer Reports investigated more than 1,500 hospitals in 22 states, rating the hospitals from lowest to highest C-section rates for women who anticipated low-risk deliveries.
This included women who hadn’t had a C-section before, didn’t deliver prematurely, and were pregnant with a single baby, who was positioned properly, the report explained. It covered births between 2009 and 2012.
Based on the investigation, the number of C-sections performed in the U.S is up 500 percent since 1970 and continues to rise.
The rates were not restricted to any specific states or areas. Often neighboring hospitals would have dramatically different C-section rates. For example, at the Los Angeles Community Hospital almost 55 percent of pregnant women anticipating low-risk deliveries underwent a C-section.
However, at California Medical Center, also located in Los Angeles, the rate of C-sections was only 15 percent.
Having a C-section does not automatically mean better outcomes for mother and baby. It is a major operation. Women who have C-sections take longer to recover from giving birth compared to women who had vaginal deliveries.
In women who had a C-section, 19 percent reported pain being a major problem in the two months following the surgery, while only 11 percent of women who gave birth vaginally reported the same. Also, in women who had C-sections, the pain is more likely to last six months or longer.
Although life-threatening complications are rare in births in the United States, low-risk women undergoing their first C-section are three times more likely to suffer serious complications compared to women who give birth vaginally.
“C-sections increase the risk of mortality and complications, but we’re just becoming aware of the down stream affect,” Dr. Kent Heyborne, chief of obstetrics at Denver Health Medical Center, explained to Consumer Reports.
Based on the information provided by Consumer Reports, C-sections put a mother at a higher risk for developing severe bleeding, blood clots, heart attack, kidney failure, and major infections.CONTINUE READING
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