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Rate of Caesarean Sections Increasing in the United States

Posted on Aug 31, 2010

A recent study performed by a consortium of the National Institute of Health has found that the number of caesarean sections being performed in hospitals in the United States is increasing. Approximately 32% of all births in the United States now occur by caesarean section. The results of the study were recently published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecologists.

While caesarean sections are certainly necessary in instances where the mother's or fetus' health are at risk, concern has risen that caesarean sections are increasing due to impatience over prolonged labor. Factors suggesting such impatience include the increased use of drugs to induce labor and the performance of caesarean sections before the mother's cervix has dilated to six centimeters. Not only are caesarean sections more costly than vaginal births, but they pose additional risks such as surgical complications and placental abnormalities in later pregnancies.