Experts Concerned With Rise in C-Sections

From the Louisvile Courier-Journal:

"Kelly Parsons was in her eighth month of pregnancy when her water broke and doctors, concerned about her severe high blood pressure, prepared to deliver her baby by Caesarean section.

Lying in her hospital bed, she kept thinking her baby wasn't ready to be born.

"I knew it wasn't good," said the 30-year-old Louisville woman.

ndeed, while he's doing well at 5 years old, Parsons' son Jackson was born underweight, suffered breathing problems and jaundice and spent two weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Such serious and costly medical problems are not unusual for the growing number of babies born relatively late in pregnancy, but before the 37 to 42 weeks considered full-term.

And a growing number of doctors and health advocates -- including the March of Dimes at a recent "prematurity summit" in Louisville -- are linking this to a new factor: a jump in C-sections.

The rate of C-sections reached a record in 2005 -- the most recent year for which data are available -- 30.3 percent of all births in the United States, up 46 percent from 1996. Kentucky's rate, 33.9 percent, was sixth-highest in the nation.

Pre-term births, meanwhile, have risen more than 30 percent in two decades nationally, and today comprise about one in seven births in Kentucky and Indiana. Most of those are "late pre-term," defined as 34 to 36 weeks in the womb.

Some medical experts and women's health advocates say late pre-term births could be reduced by bringing down the number of C-sections done before 39 weeks for reasons such as mothers' requests or doctors' schedules.

The March of Dimes is asking hospitals to voluntarily review all such C-sections.

"There are many of us doing elective Caesareans," said Dr. Iffath Abbasi Hoskins, of New York, vice president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. "Often, it is for the health of the mother or baby. … (But) some of it is the patients saying: 'I'm done. Get me delivered.' "

Others argue, however, that the vast majority of C-sections are done for sound medical reasons, as in the case of Parsons, who was believed to be 33 weeks along. But doctors do admit medical decisions are sometimes tempered by concerns about malpractice lawsuits."

Prenatal and perinatal care are complicated areas of medical practice.  Unfortunately, too often negligent care in these areas can led to devastating effects to the child and the mother.  The law firm of Gray and White Law represents victims of medical malpractice including cases involving birth injuries and cerebral palsy.  If you are concerned that you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice, please contact the attorneys at Gray and White Law for a free consultation.