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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >> Caesarean section also saves time for harried obstetricians who find themselves stretched too thin, he added.
"A Caesarean takes 20 minutes. A birth takes 12 hours," Wagner said. "It's a godsend for an obstetrician to do a Caesarean."
However, a mounting body of evidence is showing that C-sections are less safe than normal vaginal childbirth.
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As such, the increased use of Caesarean section runs counter to a basic rule of medicine, said Dr. John Zweifler, chief of the Family and Community Medicine Department at the University of California, San Francisco-Fresno.
That rule? First, do no harm.
"At a fundamental level, it's an intervention," Zweifler said. "We should only be intervening if we're sure we're providing additional service. We don't do operations unless we know there's a good reason for it."
In a C-section, the physician cuts into a woman's abdomen to remove the baby. Infection, increased blood loss and decreased bowel function are among the risks.
There are valid reasons for having a C-section, Zweifler said. They include: The baby is in breech -- or feet first -- position in the womb; twins in the womb aren't lined up head first; or there's evidence of fetal distress or maternal hemorrhaging.
International studies have found that the optimal Caesarean rate for a country is between 10 percent and 15 percent, Wagner said. "If the rate is below 10 percent, maternal mortality goes up," he said. "If it's over 15 percent, maternal mortality goes up."
The risk of death is also is dramatically higher for C-sections than natural births, Wagner added, even when one takes into account those times when the procedure is medically necessary.
"There's a doubled risk the woman will die even if it's an elective Caesarean she's requested with no medical emergency," Wagner said.
Studies also have shown that women are three times as likely to experience severe complications during a planned C-section compared with a planned vaginal birth and are highly likely to experience complications during subsequent births.
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