Many women often wonder where they'll go into labor, imaging a frantic rush to the hospital. But it turns out, more and more mothers-to-be are making an appointment to give birth and scheduling a Cesarean section.
Births by C-section are on the rise, especially among higher income mothers. Some are done in an emergency when the baby is in distress and needs to be delivered immediately, but more frequently, some women are penciling in a date on their calendar, knowing precisely the day and time they'll give birth. For some, it's due to a medical concern, others fear the difficulty of labor and some just want the convenience of making it a scheduled event.
And there appears to be a socio-economic component to this. Thirty years ago, women who had either emergency or elective C-sections were more likely to be from a lower social background. But those trends have changed over the years.
Rates of emergency C-sections are now the same for all income levels, but babies born by elective surgery are more likely to belong to moms from higher social classes. Click here to read the full report.
Overall, the rate of C-sections has jumped 56 percent since 1996. In 2008, C-sections accounted for nearly one-third of all births.
Dr. Stephen Brown, an OB-GYN at CNY Women's Healthcare, tells us C-sections account for about 30 percent of births locally. He says they were on the rise for about 6 or 7 years, but seem to have leveled off. His practice delivers about 500 to 600 babies a year and about 120 to 150 of them are C-sections. And while many of his patients who had their first baby via C-section will schedule their next birth, only maybe once a year will he see a first time mom do so.
In that rare case, Dr. Brown says fear can play a part. Some women are terrified of labor. Aside from anxiety, Dr. Brown says a woman may also schedule a C-section because they're concerned about a medical issue or have a family reason like a spouse in the military who's about to come home. But again, he says locally it happens once in a blue moon.
Read more about why some women might schedule a C-section in this Mayo Clinic article.
We contacted The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to find out where they sit on the issue of elective C-section. "Where medical evidence is still limited, ACOG says there is no one answer on the right ethical response by a physician considering a patient request for surgery," the statement said. "Thus the decision on whether to perform an elective cesarean delivery (also known as "patient choice cesarean" or "cesarean on demand") will come down to a number of ethical factors including the patient's concerns and the physician's understanding of the procedure's risks and benefits."
Read more here.
It's a topic many moms talk about. Jamie Churchill posted on CNY Central's Facebook page, "Had to have an emergency c-section with my first but I am planning a vbac with this one. Hopefully it all goes well."
Caren Giufre says, "My daughter just had a c-section and after all she went through before she ended up having it, she said she would choose to skip it all and just schedule the c-section for the second one."
Jacquie Green thinks women should have the choice, writing, "When I had my two kids, I had c-sections. The first one because of fetal destress and the second one because they talked me into it instead of giving me the option to try that one natural. I think women should have the option to choose...which way they should have their child and not let them decide for you. They told me all these risk I would take if I didn't have another c-section, so I said ok I'll have it, but had I known what I do today, I would not have."
For women, it's their choice. Doctors will help guide your decision, telling you what's safest for you and your baby. But in the end, it's up to you. Would you prefer a vaginal birth or one via C-section? Would you ever schedule a birth? If so, why? Leave your thoughts below.
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