Word: cesareans
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Five hundred years later, surgical delivery seems as trifling as tooth extraction. In Chile, which is currently believed to have the world's highest cesarean rate, 40% of all births are in the operating theater. But larger populations in Asia mean that greater numbers of C-sections are performed in this region, particularly in South Korea (36.4% of all births in the first half of 2006), Taiwan (with a rate of roughly 33%), Singapore (about 30%) and China (approximately 26%). In Thailand, Dr. Stephen Atwood of the maternal and child-health section of UNICEF's regional office, says...
...Because cesarean delivery is associated with higher maternal mortality and other health issues, these figures are alarming to some medical practitioners and natural-childbirth advocates, who label the Asian trend an epidemic. Their concern has been exacerbated by statistics recently released in the U.S., showing an increase in the cesarean rate - now at 31% of all births, up 50% from 10 years ago - coinciding with a rise in maternal mortality (although the nature of the correlation is not clear-cut and is debated by some experts). For every 100,000 births in the U.S. in 2003, 12.1 women died...
...time and day the baby is born" - allowing for a smoother departure from the workplace, and letting fathers and grandparents know when to take time off. The famous Asian penchant for astrology can even be indulged. "Whenever there is an auspicious date, there will be a planned cesarean," says Singaporean doula Ginny Phang (a doula is a private birthing coach who is not part of the hospital team...
...days following a C-section, a woman will be at an elevated risk of potentially fatal blood clots or infections. This is common to all major surgery, but means that more women die as a result of cesarean section than in natural childbirth. The U.S. figure of 12.1 maternal deaths per 100,000 births in 2003 becomes 36 if only cesareans are considered - and the difference, according to Obstetrics and Gynecology, is "attributable to the surgery itself, not any complications that might have led to the need for surgery...
...Finally, as a woman contemplates future children, she may face the possibility of reduced fertility. A 2004 study found that women who had cesareans were almost four times more likely to have problems conceiving again, compared to women who gave birth naturally. The former will also experience increased risks of ectopic pregnancy and placenta previa or accreta (an abnormally located placenta, which may cause bleeding and other complications). And because many doctors will not permit a woman to undergo natural childbirth once she has had a cesarean - because the uterine scar may rupture during labor with potentially dire consequences...