According to a new study reported in the LA Times, something as simple as patience could help lower the rate of Cesarean section deliveries, which, today account for a third of all births in the United States.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development released a study which showed that the rates of C sections were twice as high in cases where labor had been induced when compared with cases of spontaneous labor.
The purport of this is not that induction of labor was responsible for increased C section rates but that perhaps both point to a lack of patience among the mothers as well as doctors.
Nearly half of the surgical deliveries that occurred after labor started were seen as being due to “failure to progress”. Doctors seem not to take into account the fact that labor can often be very unpredictable; particularly among first time mothers and they need to take the time to properly assess the situation before rushing to perform a C section.
According to Dr. S. Katherine Laughon, a co-author of the study “as long as the maternal and fetal health are doing well in labor, they can wait longer and perhaps decrease the cesarean rate.”
