Understanding the Dangers of Cesarean Birth

Resources For Health Professionals 

In the United States and in many countries around the world healthcare professionals, healthcare payers, researchers, families, and advocacy groups are concerned about  the overuse of medical interventions in childbirth, the high rate of cesareans, and their impact on maternal and infant health. In his Foreword to this book, Dr. Charles Mahan writes, "I have been practicing obstetrics and gynecology either from a patient care or public health perspective for over 40 years and have never seen our once-proud specialty in the dire straits that it is now in America. The author of this book carefully and effectively presents the social and scientific evidence that, in one very serious intervention in birth, cesarean section, things have rapidly spun out of control-from the occasionally necessary surgical procedure to one that actually outnumbers vaginal births in some of our hospitals.

Our premature birth rates, stable for over 70 years (while other countries have lowered theirs satisfactorily), have started to rise rapidly this century. This has been especially true of late preterm births, from 35 to 37 completed weeks. This group represents the main reason preterm births are increasing and as this book points out, many of these children have permanent development problems and learning disabilities since they were born before their brains were mature. Our studies in Florida are showing that as much as two-thirds of our increase in late preterm births is associated with the increasing use of cesareans, often without a trial of labor.

Perhaps most alarming is the increase in maternal deaths the past 5 years. Many of these are post-cesarean and due to infection, uncontrolled bleeding and blood clots that travel to the lungs. This is the first trend upward in mothers dying during or after birth that we have seen for over 100 years."

The following is a list of resources from health professionals, healthcare payers, researchers, birth advocates, and their efforts to promote evidence-based care and reduce cesareans.

Charles Mahan, MD. The Perfect Storm or Can We Rescue Normal Birth Before it's Too Late?
Powerpoint Presentation (PDF)

Nicette Jukelevics: Putting Mothers and Babies at Risk: Promoting the Elusive "Cesarean Delivery on Maternal Request."
Article (PDF)
Commentary in Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care - Volume 36 Issue 3 (September 2009)

Nicette Jukelevics and Henci Goer: The Risks of Cesarean Section - A Coalition for Improving Maternity Services Fact Sheet & A Checklist For Expectant Mothers.
Fact Sheet (PDF)