In the News: C-sections may be behind rise of preemie births

According to an article on MSNBC, C-sections may be behind rise of preemie births. According to the article, "There has been considerable controversy in the medical field over a dramatic increase in C-section births in the United States and some other countries in recent decades.

In the United States, 5 percent of babies in 1970 were born by C-section. In 2006, the figure was about 31 percent.

Meanwhile, the percentage of babies born prematurely also has been rising — increasing more than 30 percent since the early 1980s to about 13 percent of all births. Being born pre-term gives an infant less time to develop in the womb."

I don't know...I see people opting for scheduled c-sections all the time here in Houston and (to me) it speaks of convenience. I am so happy that I didn't need a c-section when Willow was born and I came close because I was not progressing in my labor. That is not to say that there are not times when a c-section is the only option, and this article seems to indicate that it is safer for infants who are full-term.

"Dr. Alan Fleischman, medical director and senior vice president of the March of Dimes infant health advocacy group, voiced concern that a sizable portion of these C-section deliveries may be medically unnecessary.

Premature babies are at greater risk for a number of medical and developmental problems such as troubled breathing, bleeding in the brain, birth defects and death. Premature birth is defined as delivery before the 37th week of pregnancy, rather than the typical 40 weeks.

The number of premature births rose from 354,997 in 1996 to 414,054 in 2004, the study published in the journal Clinics in Perinatology showed.

When one looks at the numbers carefully, there was an increase of 60,000 who were pre-term, and 92 percent of them were by Cesarean section, Fleischman said.

The increase comes amid an ongoing controversy over whether some doctors are performing C-sections because they fear being sued if they do not and whether some women are opting for medically unnecessary C-sections out of convenience.

A C-section — delivery of a baby through a surgical abdominal incision — is advised when a vaginal birth is not possible or is unsafe for the mother or child."

I think some women don't see this procedure as the MAJOR SURGERY that it is. And to add to it, increasingly I am talking to husbands who don't think of it as major surgery either. Maybe doctors need to emphasize to patients, when necessary, that it is a procedure that should be a last resort in most cases. And maybe patients should be more diligent in asking questions.

Just my opinion.