Surprising Article in USA Today

[EBeth0000]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...th-costs_N.htm

Study: High-tech interventions deliver huge childbirth bill

Finally, is the mainstream media going to pay attention to the link between ginormous health care costs and inappropriate maternity care?

[Mama~Love]

"I don't like to admit it, but there are economic incentives" for doctors and hospitals to use the procedures, says Laube, who reviewed the new report before its release.

For example, some doctors might get bonuses for performing more labor inductions, which adds costs and increases the risk of C-sections, which, in turn, increase hospital profits because they require longer stays.

In addition, some doctors order unnecessary tests and procedures to protect against malpractice suits, Laube says.

Why does that not surprise me?

Yay for this article; maybe it will make people think!

[dogmom327]

It's nice to see this information making it out into the mainstream. Hopefully it won't be too shocking to people that the medical field is really money driven (not to say there aren't some wonderful doctors, nurses, etc.--just referring to the field as a whole).

[MegBoz]

For example, some doctors might get bonuses for performing more labor inductions, which adds costs and increases the risk of C-sections, which, in turn, increase hospital profits because they require longer stays.

SICK! Just sickening!

And it's true that doulas reduce expensive interventions and are, themselves, not as costly. But Um... no thanks! I don't want a doula who is a hospital employee! I'll gladly pay that fee out of my own pocket for someone with no affiliation.. and thus no loyalty to my hospital!

[Otterella]

Did you see the linked related article?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...th-fixes_n.htm

I thought this was an interesting insight:

Some doctors and patients don't see the need for such low-tech care, she says. "If a doula could be put in an IV drip, everyone would get it."

And I agree that I would be very wary of a doula employed by a hospital. But that's not the only way to increase the awareness and use of doulas. If insurance companies started shelling out the $500 or so it takes to employ an independent doula, they could be saving thousands per birth because of the lower c/s rates, anesthesia rates, and shorter hospital stays.

[Turquesa]

Bonnie Jellen, head of the American Hospital Association's maternal and child health section, hadn't seen the report. She says women's preferences and doctor's malpractice concerns have helped raise the C-section rate.

Childbirth Connection has already debunked the "maternal request" myth. Doctors and hospitals who spew this out are taking a blame-the-victim approach for U.S.A's egregiously high cesarean rate.

[Materfamilias]

Cool that someone in the media is noticing.

[barefootpoetry]

Well, it's about damn time someone noticed this! And here we've been all along spouting our crazy conspiracy theories.