2004 CDC Report on Birth in the US

[aylaanne]

This report is out, in a 108-page PDF you can find here. I got this news from a babycenter.com email link, that posted "17 surprising facts" about birth. You can find the article here if you're interested.

The most shocking stat for me?

"C-sections soaring: The number of cesarean deliveries has jumped another 4 percent to 30.2 percent of births — up by 46 percent since 1996, a continuing record for the United States."

I believe it, but it distresses me to no end. I'm so glad I'm having a homebirth.

I haven't looked at the PDF myself, since I'm on Sattelite internet with download limits, but I thought I'd share. Anyone with any opinions on this?

[jennybean0722]

Shocking but true... I am still wondering why people with normal pregnancies continue to give birth in a hospital. I can't even convince my good friends otherwise!

[Ooey]

I was quite shocked by the part of the article that said 99% of women have their babies in hospitals. I had no idea it was that high, I thought there had to be at least 10% of women who choose homebirth or birthcenters if not more! I guess I really do live in crunchy, "hippie," MDC, natural-birth la-la land

[touka]

And the rate has gone up some more since 2004!

aylaanne The big PDF is only 3.3 mb, so you shouldn't have any issues downloading it.

[Lady Lilya]

Yeah, I read that a few days ago. I was surprised by the data about inductions.

[momazon4]

I'm always shocked when I read stats like that. Makes me appreciate my little isolated existance...

[aylaanne]

Originally Posted by touka

And the rate has gone up some more since 2004!

aylaanne The big PDF is only 3.3 mb, so you shouldn't have any issues downloading it.

thx!

[CorasMama]

I was shocked by the c-section rate. IIRC, when I was preg w/ Cora (10 yrs ago), the c/s rate was around 20%, and now it's 30?!?!?! I would think it should be fairly obviously linked to the increase in inductions and the high rate of hospital births.

Sadly, the rate of hospital births doesn't surprise me. I don't know anyone irl who didn't have a hospital birth (except for the one who had her baby on I-5 on the way to the hospital!)

[ericswifey27]

Thank you !

[Synchro246]

Hey thanks for posting this. Always nice info to read.
HOWEVER. I am always confused why a CDC report on this type of thing doesn't seem to care one iota about mortality rates. It's somehow important that we know the "race" and marital status of birthing women state by state. . . I get that seeing differences in certain intervention rates in different places/among differnt groups might help focus public health initiatives and all.
We have TOO MANY of inductions and cesareans across the board, I think it's safe to go ahead and try to change the rates across the board. If they care.

[QueenOfThePride]

I know four women who have given birth in the last year. Three were C-sections. Two sections were for failure to progress and one was because 'it's policy to deliver twins by C-section'. They all talk about their birth experiences like it's totally normal and necessary.