The number of Caesarean sections in the US has finally levelled off
after peaking at 24.7 per cent of all deliveries in 1988. In 1992 22.6 per
cent of deliveries were Caesarean. But some hospitals, particularly in
the south, are still carrying out Caesareans on more than half of all pregnant
women, according to Public Citizen, a consumer group.
Sidney Wolfe, a doctor with Public Citizen, called the high rate 鈥榓
form of doctor induced violence against women鈥�. The group credits the small
but significant decline in the number of Caesareans to the growing movement
to allow women to try natural labour after having had a Caesarean.
In the past, American doctors subscribed to the theory 鈥榦nce a Caesarean,
always a Caesarean鈥�, because of fear that the uterine scar would rupture
during labour. But the more recent trend towards making a low, horizontal
incision in the abdomen rather than a vertical one has made this concern
redundant.
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