[ozmidwifery] Caesareans

[Mary Murphy]

From the USA- An Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) retrospective study of 733 women who delivered fullterm, nonbreech infants by unplanned cesarean found that as many as 24% of c-sections for "lack of progress in labor" are performed too early. This group comprises women who undergo a c-section when their cervix has dilated 0 to 3 centimeters. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) guidelines recommend that dilation should be 4 cm or more before a failure to progress diagnosis is made. The researchers postulated that many doctors are more comfortable with the risks of c-section than they are with labors that do not progress as rapidly as expected. In addition, many doctors either do not agree with ACOG guidelines or interpret them differently. - Obstetrics and Gynecology, April 1, 2000