And that’s probably because, all else being equal, it’s a better way to deliver your children – that’s sort of what women’s bodies are designed for. Certainly better for everyone, mom and baby, than a medically unnecessary C-section. Yet the rates of births by C-section around the world are so high they’re called “epidemic”. Why?
Reasons for elective C-sections vary globally, but increasing rates in many developing countries coincide with a rise in patients’ wealth and improved medical facilities.
In Asia, some women opt for the surgery to choose their delivery day after consulting fortune tellers for “lucky” birthdays or times. Others fear painful natural births or worry their vaginas may be stretched or damaged by a normal delivery. Some women also prefer the operation because they mistakenly believe it is less risky.
Others want to make sure the birth of their baby fits into their schedule. In other cases it appears doctors and hospitals push for them (pardon the pun), either because they make more money that way or to avoid malpractice suits. I’m trying to decide which reason is craziest: Worrying about what a baby (roughly the size of a small elephant, at least if you ask women in their ninth month of pregnancy) will do to a woman’s inner plumbing, or making sure the child’s birth won’t interfere with a busy work and social schedule, or ensure a happy future for the child based on a fortune teller’s say-so?
I gather that when you need one in a hurry, a C-section is like a gift from heaven. And it’s great that we live in a world where such life-saving surgeries are readily available. I feel the same way about open-heart surgery or radiation therapy, yet I wouldn’t want to have any of those procedures performed on me unless it was absolutely necessary.
by 
While I am thankful for C-sections, since my oldest daughter has had two and couldn’t deliver otherwise (women and children did die in previous generations), I do think the majority of C-sections are done because doctors fear being sued.
I quote from Ann Coulter who was writing about John Edwards’ career as a lawyer specializing in personal injury cases of babies born with cerebral palsy:
“Edwards specialized in babies with cerebral palsy who he claimed would have been spared the affliction if only the doctors had immediately performed Caesarean sections.
As a result of such lawsuits, there are now more than four times as many Caesarean sections as there were in 1970. But curiously, there has been no change in the rate of babies born with cerebral palsy. .. In addition, the “little guys” Edwards claims to represent are having a lot more trouble finding doctors to deliver their babies these days as obstetricians leave the practice rather than pay malpractice insurance in excess of $100,000 a year.”
As with so many things, I think you have to follow the money trail.
I’m due to have my 2nd c-section this year .. the first one was an emergency c-section since they found meconium when my water broke and they had to get my daughter out asap. And 16 months later, I have no choice but to have another c-section for my 2nd one. My plan was to wait 3 or more years so I could heal enough to try for a natural birth but things didn’t turn out that way. I hear horror stories of suture tears etc and that freaks the heck out of me – and my OB agreed.
Maybe I’ll keep my hubby away from me for the next 3 years when I’m healed and ready for that natural birth! 😉
Gigi — I hope your Dr. gave you the choice to have a natural birth and did not tell you that you had “no option”. My sister in London (Ontario) had an emergency c-section with her first child. A mere 13 months later she gave birth, vaginally, to her second child.
Her doctors gave her the choice. They told her there was no reason that she could not have a vaginal birth. So she did. Go ahead and Google VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean). Look at the medical sites…not wikipedia. Yes- there are risks (previous scar rupture is a 0.1 – 0.5% risk) and during labour, the decision to go to a second c-section might still have to be made. But VBAC is successful in 75% of cases. So it is an option and is your choice. And it is entirely realistic to expect a natural birth.
If, on the other hand, you have 2 c-sections, no matter how long you wait before child #3, they might be even less inclined to support the next one as being a natural birth.
I think it depends on the disposition of the Dr. If you have a doctor who is pro c-section (for whatever reason – maybe lawsuit related, maybe $$, maybe convenience for doctor-related?), they will be inclined to dismiss VBAC and present it in a more negative light when discussing it with you. A different Dr who is pro-natural birth and less c-section motivated, would take the same woman with the same pregnancy and discuss VBAC with her in a very positive manner.
It also depends on where you are. A small hospital or community with limited facilities is less preferable for VBAC than a larger one that is equipped to make alternative decisions mid-labour.
There may very well be other legitimate reasons why your Dr suggested your upcoming delivery should be a c-section. But if the “only” reason is that a previous c-section was 16 months ago, then VBAC should have been an option and I hope your Dr. discussed it with you and gave you the choice.
Good luck and God Bless,
Cynthia
“Worldwide, about 10 percent of women giving birth need C-sections, and the percentage is higher in the poorest countries where pregnant women are more likely to be malnourished or very young. Probably too many women get C-sections in the West, but too few do in Africa. Without C-sections, there is simply no way to save the lives of many women,…”
“…30,000 to 130,000 new cases of fistula develop each year in Africa alone.” fistulas are injuries to the reproductive and waste organs in a woman’s body, which cause them to become incontinent and susceptible to infection, and many times, death. “Fistulas…outside of Congo, are overwhelmingly caused not by rape but by obstructed labor and lack of medical care during childbirth.”
across the world, every minute, a woman dies from pregnancy and labor. that’s the equivalent of 5 jumbo jets PER DAY.
please be careful to note that you are bringing a Western mindset to these issues and not necessarily one that applies on a global scale.
source: Half the Sky, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn, 2009
this book recounts many individual’s stories of both tragedy & triumph. it suggests various ways to help the situation, not all of which i agree with personally. it will open or re-open your eyes to that which we take for granted and just how much the world needs our loving God to intervene.
I’m not sure where you got the idea that I was against medically necessary C-sections but, um, OK.
I don’t think I’d want to do something just because someone else did it and came through ok. I was in a car accident and survived but i wouldn’t recommend anyone else trying it. I’m having my second c-section, first baby was breech, and I don’t want to take any unnecessary chances. Do what you feel is best for you.