Birth & Parenting News: Cesarean Data

A special article in the January 2011 edition of the journal “Pediatrics” provides a summary of the most current vital statistics data for the U.S. This year, the “Annual Summary of Vital Statistics 2008“ includes a special feature on differences in cesarean delivery rates according to race and Hispanic origin.

According to the report, cesarean deliveries continued their twelve-year rise in 2008, making up almost one-third of the births in the U.S. A range of reasons for the increase are cited, including mother preferences to doctors’ fear of lawsuits. Cesarean deliveries have increased 56 percent since 1996!

Other key findings in the report include a decline in the overall birth rate, with births to teens aged 15 to 17 declining two percent from 2007 to 2008. Births to unwed mothers represented 40.6 percent of all births in 2008, an increase of almost one percent, and the proportion of babies born early went down three percent from 2007 to 12.3 percent of all births.

Rates of multiple births were the same as in 2007, and infant mortality declined from 6.75 per 1,000 live births in 2007 to 6.59 in 2008. The report is compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.

Posted by Patty Brennan on March 23, 2011 • Filed under Birth & Parenting News
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