Here's a great article in the NYTimes today about vaginal birth after cesarean at a hospital in Arizona.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/health/07birth.html
How do they have a 13.5% cesarean rate when the rest of the country has a 32% likelihood of a cesarean?
And how is it that 32% of women who have had prior cesareans have successful vaginal births at this hospital, where it is less than 10% in the rest of the country.
Here are some answer to these question from the article:
- Midwives catch (deliver) all normal, low risk babies. The doctors are only there for high-risk interventions. In contrast, most other hospitals in the US, doctors deliver all births.
- Doctors are not given bonuses for cesareans, where in most hospitals this is the case.
- The hospital and doctors are federally insured against malpractice, in contrast to other hospitals, where private insurers have threatened to raise premiums or withdraw coverage if vaginal birth after Caesarean is allowed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/health/07birth.html
How do they have a 13.5% cesarean rate when the rest of the country has a 32% likelihood of a cesarean?
And how is it that 32% of women who have had prior cesareans have successful vaginal births at this hospital, where it is less than 10% in the rest of the country.
Here are some answer to these question from the article:
- Midwives catch (deliver) all normal, low risk babies. The doctors are only there for high-risk interventions. In contrast, most other hospitals in the US, doctors deliver all births.
- Doctors are not given bonuses for cesareans, where in most hospitals this is the case.
- The hospital and doctors are federally insured against malpractice, in contrast to other hospitals, where private insurers have threatened to raise premiums or withdraw coverage if vaginal birth after Caesarean is allowed.