Not rushing labor results in fewer Cesarean sections

It’s a typical scene: a woman is in labor for several hours but then, things seem to slow down – or even stop. Labor stops progressing. The doctor decides that a Cesarean section (C-section) is needed because the labor isn’t going anywhere. So, within a short period of time, yet another baby is delivered surgically.

This doesn’t have to be though. According to a press release issued by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), 130,000 C-sections per year could be avoided in the United States if doctors didn’t rush women with stalled labors. Investigators undertook a study of over 1000 women who were in labor but then whose labor stopped for 2 or more hours. The researchers found that one-third of the women went on to deliver vaginally, without any medical problems affecting either mom or baby. The remaining two-thirds went on to have C-sections.

There are many risks involved in having a C-section so doctors must place an emphasis on medically necessary C-sections, restricing their number to only strictly necessary ones. Of course, if a woman needs a C-section, it must be done, but if so many aren’t necessary, then mothers are being put at risk.

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Image: Newscom

Tags: pregnancy blog, c sections, cesarean sections, labor