100 Years of C-Sections
It wasn't always this way
Dr. Clarel Antoine, Rx Compassion’s Founder and Board Chair, looks at C-sections over the last 100 years in this article, featured in De Gruyter.
C-sections occur in 1 in 3 women in the U.S.
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In some parts of the world,
it’s as many as 4 in 5 women.
But it wasn’t always this way.
In fact, cesarean deliveries were first performed as a last resort, only to be used if the mother was already deceased or critically hemorrhaging. This view began around 700 BC and continued through the 18th century.
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All the way through the end of the nineteenth century, the operation was avoided because of its high mortality rate.
Even as recently as 1970, c-sections comprised only ~5% of deliveries, which has increased to 30-32% as of 2020.
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**This graph is for illustrative purposes,
to see exact data, read the full article
As c-sections have risen,
so have costs and complications.
The maternal mortality rate has increased from 7.2 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1987 to a high of 17.4 deaths per 100,000 in 2018.
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**This graph is for illustrative purposes,
to see exact data, read the full article
The over-use of cesarean deliveries is literally a life or death issue, leading to thousands of women developing placenta accreta, placenta previa, and other life-threatening complications.
The CDC estimates if this trend continues, 130 or more additional women will die unnecessarily each year.
We have to do 2 things to solve this problem and save lives:
1) Decrease the over-use of c-sections by educating physicians and mothers-to-be about the risks.
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2) Standardize the techniques which minimize risks of developing placenta accreta, placenta previa, and other conditions.
Read more of Rx Compassion's research on C-Sections and other maternal health issues.