It's about time that statistics on the risks of C-sections and the "too high" maternal mortality rate in the USA are getting a little national attention. In this article, about 2/3 of the way down, it highlights a report that found that too many women don't have access to more women-centered care like midwives and that too many medical interventions are being used during delivery! If only this one sentence could become commonly-used in our culture, we would see a huge improvement.
Also, note the reference to the recent NIH conference in Maryland where they discussed the dangers of the recent climb in c-sections across the country and the disturbing policy of many hospitals to not allow VBAC's (vaginal birth after cesarean). In other words, they require c-sections for any woman who had one previously. I'll be receiving the email with the final outcome of the conference and will post it, but it sounds like they made a lot of ground in the effort to prove such policies wrong and against a woman's right to give birth the way she wants.
Read the article from TIME:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1971633,00.html?artId=1971633?contType=article?chn=sciHealth
Enjoy!
