Category Archives: Cesarean Birth

Cesareans less likely when mother is a physician

By The Midwife | Published: August 30, 2013

There have been several studies which have looked into the economic incentives which might play into the decision making that leads to a cesarean birth, but a new report for the National Bureau of Economic Research (recently reported on NPR) has found that cesareans are 10% less likely when the patient in labor is a […]

Also posted in Hospitals, Research | Leave a comment

What to Reject When You’re Expecting

By The Midwife | Published: December 18, 2012

Check this out: A fantastic new guide written by Consumer Reports (who would have guessed?) about what to reject when you’re expecting, including unnecessary cesareans, elective inductions, routine amniotomy and episiotomy, and babies routinely going to the nursery.  Coupled with advice on what to look for instead, including midwifery care!  Well researched and very refreshing. […]

Also posted in Birth Education, Epidurals, Episiotomies, Inductions, Labor and Birth, Midwifery, VBAC | 1 Comment

One World Birth about to launch!

By The Midwife | Published: August 30, 2011

Just stumbled upon this via a friend on Facebook, and watching the welcome video just sent chills down my spine.  Two passionate filmmakers are creating an interactive, continuously-updated online TV channel focusing on nothing but birth, and the state of birth in our world right now, by interviewing the world’s leading experts in birth and […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Homebirth, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, Labor Support, Midwifery, News, Vaginal Birth, VBAC | Leave a comment

The Obstetrician’s Lament

By The Midwife | Published: May 19, 2011

There is an astounding collection of writing going up on The Unnecesarean regarding the growing rift between obstetricians and the out-of-hospital birth community.  All of this is in response to the The Obstetrician’s Lament, written by OB-GYN Anette Fineberg, MD, which came out in the May edition of ACOG’s Green Journal (Obstetrics and Gynecology).  I […]

Also posted in Complications, Hospitals, Journal Articles, Labor and Birth, Politics, VBAC | Leave a comment

NIH Consensus updates on VBACs

By The Midwife | Published: March 3, 2011

One of the advantages to being a midwife is being on all kinds of funky mailing lists, which means that all softs of health information, conference invitations, and sometimes even free samples often show up on my doorstep.  A few days ago, I got just such a mailing– the NIH Consensus Development Conference Statement on […]

Also posted in Complications, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, Research, Vaginal Birth, VBAC | Leave a comment

“Choosy Mothers Choose Cesareans”

By The Midwife | Published: April 24, 2008

Sometimes, briefly, you feel like you’re making progress, that midwifery outreach is making a difference, that people are becoming more educated and informed, and then you read an article like this one, over at Time Magazine, and you realize that you exist in a small bubble where your philosophy on birth is far different than […]

Also posted in Complications, Hospitals, Research | 5 Comments

Unecessary Cesareans

By The Midwife | Published: January 5, 2007

So, not the most pleasant way to start out our new year, but our national Cesarean Section rate is somewhere around 29%, possibly even higher now, given that this data was from 2004, and we’re still awaiting the final tallies from 2005 at this point. To quote Marion Toepke McLean from her article Cesarean on […]

Also posted in Issues, Labor and Birth, Litigation, Midwifery | 3 Comments

In the news: cesarean rate rises and VBAC rate declines

By The Midwife | Published: December 6, 2006

Well, huh, this isn’t really news, but better late than never: a very well balanced article from the New York Times examines many of the issues which contribute to the declining rate of VBACs in this country, including doctors’ rising fear of uterine rupture, hospitals’ difficultly in staffing the necessary number of qualified doctors to […]

Also posted in Choice, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, VBAC | 1 Comment

C-sections: Not so benign after all, eh?

By The Midwife | Published: September 10, 2006

Two studies have recently come out which highlight the risks of cesarean birth for both mothers and babies, particularly primary cesareans with no medical indication. A recent study printed in Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care found that neonatal mortality rates were higher in babies born by cesarean, even after the statistics had been adjusted for […]

Also posted in Complications, Research | 2 Comments

Coercive C-sections

By The Midwife | Published: October 31, 2005

This is a fantastic article from Parenting.com, which was brought to my attention in one of the natural birth online communities I frequent. I am posting it in its entirety here, so that everyone can read it, even if you’re not subscribed to Parenting (although it’s well worth subscribing to). Can you imagine being prosecuted […]

Also posted in Labor and Birth, Litigation | 1 Comment