Michigan hospitals are becoming the first of their kind in implementing a project that aims to avoid unnecessary C-sections. A lower rate of C-section deliveries is associated with healthier babies and a lower risk of a birth injury.
The Michigan Health and Hospital Association Keystone obstetrics project implements changes to hospitals in Michigan in their birthing procedures. The project discourages elective or C-section births unless it is for medically necessary reasons such as chronic disease, a mother carrying multiple babies or the baby is small and developing slower.
The center of the project is housed at Oakwood Hospital and Medical Center in Dearborn. Currently about 65 hospitals in Michigan are actively participating in the campaign to reduce the number of C-sections. This equates to nearly every birthing center in the state.
Goals and Outcomes of the C-Section Project
There are a few similar projects throughout the nation, but this one has been the most successful so far in getting hospitals and medical professionals to participate. The projects emphasis is on educating women on the advantages of waiting for natural birth. It also eliminates many C-section births with the use of labor-inducing drugs after the 39 th week of pregnancy as well as pain-relieving drugs and counseling during labor.
Although preliminary, the data coming out of the project is promising according to doctors and researchers. There has been a noticeable reduction in elective C-sections and the use of labor-inducing drugs. According to data collected from March 2010 to March 2011, the percentage of elective C-sections before the 39 th week of pregnancy fell from 24 percent to 6 percent of all births performed at the participating hospitals.
Also, the percentage of those who used labor-inducing drugs dropped from 20 percent to 7 percent of all births. Dr. Charles Cash, the doctor who originally suggested the initiative, has said that he hopes to lower the number of overall C-section births throughout the nation from 32 percent, where it currently sits, to 17 percent. Another positive result is the reduction in the number of newborns that need to be taken to the neonatal intensive care unit.
Benefits of Avoiding C-Section Delivery
Throughout the country, the push to reduce the number of elective C-section births is tied to evidence that C-section births generally have more complications, a longer recovery and a risk of serious injury to the baby. In some cases, there may also be errors in the C-section procedure that harm the baby such as a delay in ordering a C-section and surgical errors.
All labor and delivery complications and natural childbirth deviations put both the mother and the child at risk. If your baby was harmed during a C-section or as a result of birth trauma, contact an experienced birth injury attorney today.
