A study by Health Grades Inc. reports that the number of elective cesarean sections increased by 25 percent from 2000 to 2002, and that as many as 1 in 50 live births in the United States are now performed by elective cesarian sections.

The study examined births at 1,684 hospitals and found that 2.21 percent of live births during the study period were performed by elective cesarian sections.

There are also preliminary indications that elective cesarean section births may be more cost effective and have fewer complications than vaginal births. The Health Grades Inc. study found that there were complications in 8.4 percent of elective cesareans as compared to complications in 12 percent of vaginal births.

That figure is in line with a University of Texas study that found elective cesarean births were more cost effective over the long term than vaginal births. Elective cesareans cost $920 compared to only $780 for vaginal births, but the costs of treating complications from vaginal births more than outweighed the slightly higher costs for the cesarean.

Sources:

Study finds Caesarean births more popular. Austin Business Journal, June 28, 2004.

Number of ‘Patient Choice’ C-Sections Rises by 25 Percent, HealthGrades Study Finds. Press Release, Health Grades Inc., June 29, 2004.

The Study Reports Rise in Number of Elective Cesarean Sections by Brian Carnell, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.