Word: cesarean
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Cesarean sections were once a measure of last resort, a final attempt to save both mom and baby if things did not go well during delivery. That was almost certainly the case in Roman times with Julius Caesar, who was born via the procedure, and for whom it was named. But today, a trend toward elective cesareans is presenting doctors with another problem - women who insist on delivering earlier than they should, with potential risks to the newborn. Now, researchers at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development...
...study of 13,258 pregnant women who had had a prior cesarean section, 36% elected to schedule their next c-section delivery before 39 weeks of gestation, the safety cutoff recommended by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG). ACOG's guideline is based on studies showing that prior to 39 weeks, babies' lungs are often too undeveloped to function properly outside the womb, and babies at this age tend to have difficulty regulating their blood sugar. In the trial, led by Dr. Alan Tita at UAB and published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, babies...
...fact that one-third of elective cesareans were done before 39 weeks was surprising," says Tita. "And we demonstrated an increase in morbidity associated with early delivery, which is why we think the ACOG recommendation should still stand, and that women should wait to have an elective cesarean until 39 weeks...
...Despite the procedure's pitfalls, there have been few official attempts to reduce Asia's high cesarean rates. One of the more notable instances was in South Korea in 2004 - three years after the country's rate hit an OECD high of 40.5%. A chastened government launched a campaign to encourage natural childbirth, and the number of prenatal classes was also increased, allowing more women to learn about the pain-management techniques essential in vaginal delivery. "Overall, Korean women are much more educated about the issue," says Kim Jae Sun, an official at the government's Health Insurance Review...
...forces driving up Asia's cesarean rates are irresistible, from both the demand and the supply sides of the equation - and though the medical drawbacks are significant, they are not serious enough to become a real deterrent to expectant mothers. As surgical techniques improve and costs decrease, perhaps the reasons for preferring natural delivery will one day be intangible. It may become something akin to a rite of passage - the choice of a romantic, affluent minority. In fact, some already see it that way. When his patients choose to give birth naturally, even to the extent of refusing painkillers...