According to preliminary data from the CDC, the highest number of births ever registered in the United States occurred in 2007 (the year Theo was born); and the national C-section delivery rate rose 2 percent to 31.8%, marking the 11th consecutive year of C-section rate increase and another record high. Read the CDC's press release here.
Cesarean section poses a number of risks to moms and babies, while vaginal birth presents its own set of risks; the key, of course, is to weigh those risks before deciding which path to take in any given situation.
My very experienced doctor did a fabulous job of stitching me up with teeny-tiny stitches both on my uterus and on my skin. I actually got compliments on my incision from other doctors. After Theo's birth I followed the C-section rules: don't pick up anything for a week, including your baby; don't pick up anything heavier than your baby for 6 weeks. Being pretty young and fit, and plied with help from my mother and in-laws, I recovered and healed relatively quickly from the carefully executed procedure.
However, one quite unintended side effect of my surgery was a small cut below Theo's left eye. Yowza. At the time, Matt pointed out that the location of human eyes (inset and surrounded by bone) makes it practically impossible for an alert and skilled doctor to cut into a baby's actual eye. Hmm...well, it still looked pretty close to me!
Another potential and more serious side effect is that, according to an admittedly new and small study, children born by C-section are 79 percent more likely to develop asthma by age 8 than are children born vaginally, due in part to their lungs not being squeezed out properly in the birth canal. Doesn't that number seem high? Doesn't it seem insane?
Who knows what other findings and hypotheses will pop up in the next few decades as (I hope) the pendulum swings the other way and the number of C-sections in the United States goes back down. I think that if the number of primary (first-time) C-sections declines, the total number will dramatically decrease, since VBAC is so controversial among care providers. I would also love to see more doctors and midwives trained in and practicing the safe vaginal delivery of breech babies and twins. These three situations (breech, multiples, and previous C-section) are some of the biggest players in the rise of scheduled C-sections.
For now...consider yourself aware!
10 comments:
Can you believe that here in brazil the C-section rate is close to 50% and the more educated and wealthy a person is the more likely they are to have a C-section?
See why I went back to the states to have Kyle. On that note, the doctors here are very skilled a doing c-sections.
Happy note, my c-section baby has not developed asthma. (She is eighteen now.)
His head is so huge compared to his tiny arm.
I was going to ask if I could repost this on our work blog, buuuut... birth is a touchy subject around there. I'll just be aware of c-sections instead.
So glad you posted that! I have strong opinions regarding C-sections!! Hopefully, the number will decrease. BUT obviously, I am so grateful we have this option in case of emergency.
karen: phew ;)
As with so many other birth issues, it is so important for women to have informed choices - which is what you are talking about here.
When numbers start driving events, the choice is gone.
Good post!
Well it was his wife's birthday after all. ;)
Theo is such a cutie and it must have been a hard first week when you couldn't pick him up.
Henry has almost made it to the 8 year mark without Asthma. Hopefully the other two will follow suit.
I think more important that doctors being unwilling to do C-sections, is hospitals providing better support for mothers so that the C-section doesn't become inevitable. And maybe we can all decide that it really is okay to make it to the due date and even a bit past without being induced. Obviously extenuating health reasons are considered:)
I'd never heard that you couldn't pick your baby up the first week?! What on earth are you supposed to do? I don't really follow those rules because I can't, especially with the second kid, and I'm sure with the next ones. Interesting facts, though.
Wow, I'm surprised no one said anything to you about not picking up your baby. They kind of pounded that one into my head. Fortunately I had help for the first week, so I never even changed Theo's diaper. I did hold him though, obviously. I just wouldn't pick him up--someone would hand him to me.
That was one reason I was a little afraid of a second C-section--my 30-lb toddler. I can't imagine that anyone with a toddler actually goes 6 weeks without picking their toddler up!
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