Cesarean Section

The most common type of hospital surgery in the United States is the cesarean section--more than one-million such procedures are performed annually (Stafford 59-63). Cesarean sections represent approximately one-quarter of total deliveries, and the use of the procedure has more than quadrupled over the past 25 years.

Some observers contend that many cesarean sections are unnecessary surgeries, and that the women involved in these particular cesareans would be better served by vaginal deliveries (Brick 17). While this essay presents arguments supporting this position, it would be fruitless to state that this essay proves that a significant proportion of cesarean surgeries are unnecessary, for if such proof existed the controversy that surrounds this issue in the health care community would not exist. Rational arguments may be made on each side of the contention that cesarean section is an abused surgical procedure. This essay presents and defends the position that the cesarean section is an abused surgical procedure.

There is no "smoking gun" in the form of hard data indicating that a specific proportion of cesarean sections are unnecessary and thus reflects surgical abuse (Flamm, Goings, Liu, and Wolde-Tsadik 927-932). Rather, support for a contention that some cesarean sections represent unnecessary surgeries must be provided within the context that a substantial proportion of the cesarean sections performed are not justified by relevant clinical factors. Localio, La

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ed as an abuse of the counseling process. Another legitimate contention is that women, not physicians, make the decisions on delivery procedure (Fawcett, et al., 253-259). What is left unsaid in making this contention is that few women decide against a delivery procedure recommended by their physician. Americans have been conditioned to place the highest level of trust in physicians. Therefore, if physicians do not provide women with information indicating that a vaginal birth represents a feasible choice in their cases, many and perhaps most women will not choose a vaginal delivery procedure. Thus, if physicians recommend cesarean section as opposed to presenting a balanced presentation of information to permit a woman to make an informed decision, the choice of cesarean section cannot be laid at the feet of the women in question. Fawcett, et al. (257) found that 10 percent of pregnant women were never informed by their physicians during their pregnancies that vaginal delivery was a feasible option for them. Fawcett, et al. (257) found that an additional 19 percent of pregnant women were not informed until the end of their second trimester that a vaginal delivery might be a feasible option for them. At this late stage in a

Category: Medical - C