A study reporting on chronic opioid use after surgery, defined by study investigators as “having filled 10 or more prescriptions or more than 120 days’ supply of an opioid in the first year after surgery (excluding the first 90 days),” found that 1 in 1000 women...
The California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative has released Toolkit to Support Vaginal Birth & Reduce Primary Cesareans. Reading it inspired “shock and awe,” “awe” of the herculean effort that has produced a meticulously documented (338 references) manual that...
In an article entitled “Your Biggest C-Section Risk May Be Your Hospital,” Consumer Reports looks at the variation in cesarean rates among more than 1200 U.S. hospitals in 1st-time mothers carrying one, head down, full-term baby, those being criteria that help ensure...
One theory behind laborists, obstetricians employed by hospitals to provide 24/7 coverage, is that it will reduce cesarean rates by removing time management considerations from the decision. Medscape, however, reports on a study presented at the Society for...
A New York Times commentary serves as an eye-opener for anyone unaware of the degree to which having a cesarean depends on factors having nothing to do with the health or well-being of mothers and babies. The commentary also discusses measures intended to address...
The New York Times reports on an analysis of health issues in children according to their mode of delivery. The study compares health problems in the offspring of 321,287 1st-time mothers in Scotland. Compared with vaginal birth, planned cesarean resulted in more...
As is usual, the American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists hasn't made its guidelines publically available. A Medscape article, however, states that the Bulletin affirms the value of instrumental vaginal delivery in safely avoiding cesarean surgery and...
The Leapfrog Group, a non-profit organization promoting hospital safety standards, has published 2014 cesarean rates by hospital in low-risk 1st-time mothers (> 37 wk, one, head-down baby)—and it's not pretty. The Miami Herald used the data to bemoan the extremely...
Using the obstetric research to develop their underlying assumptions, investigators created a decision-analytic model to compare outcomes in a theoretical population of 3.2 million healthy, low-risk women with no prior cesareans, this being the number of such women...
A "must read," the CDC has published an analysis of severe maternal morbidity (transfusion, ruptured uterus, unplanned hysterectomy, Intensive Care Unit admission) in U.S. women according to mode of delivery and previous cesarean history. As the bar graphs from the...
The first in Henci’s new Take Charge of Your Birth Series, Labor Pain: What’s Your Best Strategy? delivers up-to-date access to the best medical research plus practical strategies for developing your plan and putting it into action. Also available in audiobook.
