The CDC announced recently that the cesarean birth rate had dropped 0.1 percentage points, from 32.9% of all births in 2009 to 32.8 % in 2010.

Although some media reported this as the reversal of an alarming trend, such a slight decline — possibly a mere statistical hiccup — is no cause for celebration. It will be several more years before we’ll have enough data to know whether cesarean rates are truly declining.

If the increase in cesarean births that began in 1997 and continued until 2010 had been 0.1 percentage points per year, the US cesarean rate would be less than 25%, rather than close to one third of all births. The current rate is deeply disturbing, considering the number of women who are put at risk for the complications of major abdominal surgery, which include bleeding, infection and blood clots. Women who have had a cesarean also have an increased risk for future pregnancy complications, which increase with each additional cesarean.


Nevertheless, this is progress in the right direction and in many parts of the country the numbers of elective inductions and cesarean births have decreased. This is most likely thanks to initiatives at the state, regional and health systems levels to educate practitioners and consumers alike about the risks of choosing to deliver babies too early—that is, before 39 weeks of pregnancy unless the mom or baby have problems. 40 weeks is considered a full-term pregnancy.

The Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals, has set goals for facilities targeted at reducing the number of babies born to women by choice before 39 weeks. These goals have given institutions strong motivation to make sure their healthcare providers follow appropriate guidelines so goals can be reached.

Consumer advocacy groups have launched campaigns encouraging women to go full term with their pregnancy, including the March of Dimes’ “Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait” campaign.

This new energy among all the health professionals involved in hospital birth — obstetricians, family-practice physicians, pediatricians, nurse-midwives, and nurses — to focus on patient-centered care and improve communication and collaboration means it’s more important than ever before that you are fully partnering with your healthcare provider