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More c-section babies being delivered later in pregnancy, fewer babies born surgically

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Newborn feet

We live busy lives. Having a schedule helps keeps things manageable. It's why many women choose cesarean sections over vaginal births; they know what to expect and when to expect it.

While some c-sections are medically necessary, an explosive rise in the number of surgical deliveries in recent decades cannot be explained through need alone. In addition to convenience, women have been choosing elective c-sections for other reasons, such as fear of pain and to try and avoid some of the risks of vaginal deliveries, like tearing and pelvic wall damage.

And many have been doing so before their babies reach full term, at 39 weeks gestation. Babies born between 39 and 40 weeks have better outcomes than babies born earlier.

But efforts to stem the rising tide of elective c-sections, particularly before 39 weeks, seems to be paying off. For the first time in decades, the number of c-sections performed each year on women giving birth to single babies (not twins) seems to be leveling, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported late last week. And more of the c-sections still performed are happening later in gestation, once babies have reached full term.

Nationally, the number of c-sections performed at 38 weeks fell more than 5 percent and increased 4 percent at 39 weeks.

Delaware, which traditionally ranks high in the number of babies born by c-section, saw more than a 10 percent decrease in c-section deliveries at 38 weeks between 2009 and 2011 with a 5-10 percent increase at deliveries at 39 weeks.

CDC Change in C-section

Cesarean section is the most common surgery in the U.S. and it carries risks, as in any other surgery. Babies born by c-section are also more likely to experience breathing difficulties than those born vaginally.

In 1970, c-sections accounted for 5 percent of all births in the U.S.. In 1996,that number had climbed to twenty one percent. By 2009, the c-section rate accounted for nearly a third of all births, a 60 percent increase in just over a decade. The number now hovers around 31 percent and did not increase from 2009 to 2011.

In Delaware, 36 percent of babies were delivered by c-section in 2009, climbing 71 percent from c-section rates in 1997. Delaware was rankled 7th in the country by c-section rate that year according to the Delaware Vital Statistics Annual Report.

However, in 2010, fewer Delaware babies were born by c-section. This drop brought Delaware down to 19th on the list of states by c-section rate, representing 34 percent of births, or 3,955 First State babies.

In the report, Delaware Health and Social Services classifies babies born after 37 weeks gestation as term, while the CDC considers 39 weeks and later full term.

The CDC reports the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists published clinical guidelines to reduce the number of elective cesarean sections and limit the number of labors induced before 39 weeks. The CDC attributes the change in c-section rates to: initiatives to improve perinatal care quality, changes in hospital policy to disallow elective delivery prior to 39 weeks, and education of the public.


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