Some leading obstetrician/gynecologists believe only a trial in which women are randomly assigned to deliver their first babies by planned C-section or planned vaginal delivery can determine whether either is safer.
Other doctors, as well as activists, question the need for and the feasibility of such a trial. They cite several recent studies that examined rates of pregnancy-related deaths and illness in women who opted for a vaginal delivery compared with those who scheduled a C-section. Mothers who delivered vaginally generally fared better, although complications were rare even among C-section mothers.
Whether first-time mothers increasingly are requesting C-sections when they don't need them isn't clear. Eugene Declercq, professor of maternal and child health at Boston University, says he suspects more doctors are recommending them, and their patients are reluctant to disagree. For example, Declercq says, a doctor might say, "The baby is looking kind of big. We could do a cesarean."
OB/GYN Peter Bernstein of Montefiore Medical Center in New York says some doctors encourage patients to schedule C-sections because they think they're less likely to be sued than if they perform a vaginal delivery. And "women are more ambivalent about what they want."
Ok women, the health of you and your babies is at stake! Are we really "ambivalent"?
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