Rate of C-Sections Rises
* Re “C-Sections on Rise as View of Risks Changes,” Jan. 29: Picture yourself recuperating from major surgery and then having to take care of and bond with a newborn. Then tell me that the convenience and predictability of a C-section are worth it. I was there and had no energy whatsoever for my infant son. That “infant” is almost 40 years old, and still I can feel the weariness and frustrations that I felt way back then.
BARBARA JOAN GRUBMAN
Woodland Hills
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Your article about caesarean sections reminded me of another time science “improved” upon nature, by promoting infant formula, thereby increasing public health problems from ear infections to obesity. Perhaps women of today have difficulty giving birth naturally when they are given Pitocin, made to lie down, monitored constantly, not allowed to eat or walk, given an IV and encouraged to use drugs to deal with pain. Obstetrics is a surgical specialty, and many obstetricians seem to view every birth as a disaster waiting to happen. A truly natural birth allows a doctor very little control and takes a lot of time: She or he sits around offering encouragement before catching the baby.
As the mother of three, I can say that my natural births to 8- and 9-pound babies were empowering, peak experiences. No one tells marathon runners or mountain climbers to expect results without some pain. But then, no one straps them to machines, pokes them, prods them, restricts them, medicates them or terrifies them, either.
CAITLIN CROSS-BARNET
Los Angeles
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The notion that C-sections are less risky than vaginal birth is based on no information. Data regarding maternal mortality are hard to find, but the best recent study comes from the Netherlands and indicates that maternal mortality from C-section is roughly five times that from vaginal birth. Low risk of complications is not the same as no risk, as the recent experience with VBACs (vaginal births after caesareans) should have taught us.
The C-section rate is on the rise nevertheless, and there is not much sentiment among pregnant women, obstetricians or insurers to restrain it. Unfortunately and inevitably, maternal deaths will occur following C-sections done for medically trivial reasons, and then the serious soul-searching will begin. Future commentators will call this learning the hard way. It shouldn’t take unnecessary maternal deaths to learn and trust the difference between a natural process and surgical intervention.
RICHARD ZALAR MD
Fallbrook
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The idea that giving birth vaginally is a medical event fraught with danger is nothing short of ridiculous. From the beginning of time, women have successfully given birth without medical intervention. Yes, caesarean births are certainly indicated in situations when the health of mother or baby is in danger of being compromised, but to advocate caesarean deliveries for convenience, to avoid the pain of labor or as “defensive medicine” is unconscionable. Shame on those physicians who are willing to manipulate vulnerable patients in order to satisfy their own personal agendas.
LAURIE R. ORR
Encinitas
