Planned cesarean versus planned vaginal delivery at term: Comparison of newborn infant outcomes
It is well accepted that Westernized societies perform way too many C-sections. In many cases it has been a matter of convenience. Even 14 yrs ago, working in histology at a local hospital, the number of placentas we had to evaluate in the pathology department (hence…the number of C-sections performed) were much higher on Fridays and before holidays.
While the results of this study should come as no surprise, it finds that the rates of certain complications doubled in the planned C-section group. Does this mean the pregnancy was more complicated from the start, or that, for some of these woman/doctor pairs, that the medicalization of the birth was just a reflection of the whole pregnancy. But, in their defense, what the heck does Mother Nature know about birth anyway???