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Is reducing the cesarean section rate in the U.S. just a matter of Time in labor?
The cesarean section rate is around 30% in the USA. One would assume that labor cannot progress by itself in a safe enough manner, requiring hospitals for safety during the birth process. At least, this is what we have been taught.
While we assume this is true, the fact is that more people are opting for home birthing as an option that is safe, effective and rarely requires a C-section. The data shows that your likelihood of having a C-section is much higher in the hospital than outside of it where birth is less mechanized.
The other problem is that there is growing evidence that shows C-sections is a largely under reported cause of groin pain, neck and back problems, as the incision will often not heal without affecting the mesentery and adhesion to the abdominal cavity.
A growing phenomenon of labor not progressing has been seen during the past 50 years, however, as we become more sedentary and we have a less toned core, perhaps core stability exercises may be able to reverse this disturbing trend.
A new study now suggests that allowing a woman to labor longer is not unsafe, and has markedly reduced the C-section rate since their labor will continue to progress safely. This finding published in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology remarkable, since the current practice of allowing three hours of labor was established in the 1800’s and has never been challenged.
You can read more about these new findings here
New Evidence That We Just Need To Give Women More Time To Labor
When moms in a recent study had one more hour to push, the C-section rate was cut in half.
By Catherine Pearson, The Huffington Post
The time that a woman spends in the second stage of labor “” when she pushes, then finally delivers her baby “” is among the most intense stretches of her life, and is monitored extremely closely. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that first-time moms generally have three hours to push their baby out if they”™ve had an epidural, two if they haven”™t, and beyond that, they”™re thought to be experiencing a prolonged second stage of labor. Healthcare providers may move for a C-section, or an assisted delivery with a vacuum or forceps.
But a new study found that when women were given just one more hour to push, C-section rates went down by roughly half. And while the investigation “” published in the March issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology “” is small and unlikely to fundamentally change medical norms any time soon, researchers say it offers a much-needed critique of potentially outdated standards.
“œ[The time recommendation] came from expert opinion from the 1800s,” said Dr. Alexis Gimovsky, a fellow in maternal fetal medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Pennsylvania, and an author on the study. “œSince then, there”™s really only been retrospective data used to validate that guideline.” In the 1950s, researchers looked over earlier data and found that women who delivered their babies within two hours had lower rates of infection and serious postpartum bleeding, for example. In 1955, another team concluded that most women without anesthesia give birth within two hours.
Read more here.