Cesarean Surgery

For more than a decade, the U.S. cesarean rate has stood at 33%.5 That’s one in every three pregnant women for over ten years having their baby via major abdominal surgery. One reason for this is [...]

Recent years have seen publication of a series of large database analyses comparing outcomes of vaginal birth with cesarean delivery. They have provided sufficient data for reviewers to conduct a [...]

Research has long established that hospital-level cesarean rates vary widely for reasons that cannot be explained by variations in their patient populations. Theorizing that the challenges of [...]

If the list of cesarean harms weren’t long enough already, Consumer Reports points to another one: women who have hysterectomies are more likely to experience complications if they have [...]

If you’ve ever wondered how much could be accomplished if a hospital made a concerted effort to reduce cesareans—and not because an insurance company held a metaphorical gun to its head—this [...]

A study in the most recent issue of Birth provides eye-opening illumination on non-medical reasons for high cesarean rates (Kennedy 2016). Investigators at Yale’s med-school affiliated hospital [...]

A UPI report summarizes the findings of a systematic review (a study of studies) of 60 studies comparing the likelihood of deep venous clots and pulmonary embolism (venous thromboembolism) after [...]

A study reporting on chronic opioid use after surgery, defined by study investigators as “having filled 10 or more prescriptions or more than 120 days’ supply of an opioid in the first year after [...]

The California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative has released Toolkit to Support Vaginal Birth & Reduce Primary Cesareans. Reading it inspired “shock and awe,” “awe” of the herculean effort [...]

In an article entitled “Your Biggest C-Section Risk May Be Your Hospital,” Consumer Reports looks at the variation in cesarean rates among more than 1200 U.S. hospitals in 1st-time mothers [...]