Iowa’s Cesarean Numbers Climb to All-Time High
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March 24, 2009
Des Moines, IA – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued the 2007 statistics listing the number of child births performed by cesarean section in the U.S. They are up nationally and way up in Iowa; a trend that has re-opened the debate over which birth method is less-risky for mother and child, particularly when the pregnancy is not the woman's first.
Lisa Houchins, with the Iowa Chapter of the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN), says the national rate increased two percent in 2007, and in Iowa, nearly one-in-three women now has had a c-section.
"In 2006 the cesarean rate in Iowa was 27.7 percent and in 2007 it increased to 29.4 percent."
Houchins blames the higher number of c-sections on the choice of many doctors to avoid the vaginal-birth-after-cesarean method (VBAC).
"Women are losing the choice to have a VBAC, because VBACs have been banned in many hospitals, including many Iowa hospitals."
Studies from the National Institute of Child Health contradict claims by hospitals that repeated VBACs are more dangerous than repeated c-sections. ICAN has compiled a guide for women who encounter VBAC bans to help them understand their rights as patients.