Women, mothers-to-be, and mothers

I have had this gnawing thought in my mind after participating in an event in Waterford and having the opportunity to talk to numerous pregnant mothers.  Do we (women, mothers-to-be and mothers) trust our bodies?  Even more specifically, do we trust our bodies through the process of pregnancy and delivery?  Or do we fear the process of natural childbirth.  Because of these gnawing questions, I decided to do a little research. 

I wanted to research the cesarean rates in Oakland County.  I then was curious for the county I live in, Macomb County.  One of the sites that I researched online was www.cesareanrates.com.  The rate (or percentage) of cesarean births is found by taking the total cesarean births and dividing it by the total births.  Below is a list of the hospitals found in these two counties and their cesarean rates. (1)

                     

Oakland County

Botsford General Osteopathic Hospital                      33.25%

Crittenton General Hospital                                        39.58%

Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital                       31.83%

Huron Valley Hospital                                                33.05%

Providence Hospital                                                    31.13%

 St. John Health Providence Park Hospital                 35.49%

William Beaumont Hospital (NICU)                          41.64%

William Beaumont Hospital – Troy                            39.86%

Macomb County

Mt. Clemens General Osteopathic Hospital               34.31%

St. Joseph Hospital West                                            34.87%

St. John Macomb Oakland Hospital – Macomb Center         30.52%

On the CDC’s website (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) at www.cdc.gov, I found that the “average cesarean rate in the United States is 32.7%”. (2)  This means that the majority of the hospitals in Oakland and Macomb County have HIGHER cesarean rates.  I also found that cesarean rates including “low-risk cesareans have been on a decline from 2009 to 2013 in most states EXCEPT for three states.  Michigan happens to be one of these three states”. (3) 

After reviewing Michigan’s rate of cesarean births by County at www.cesareanrates.com,  I realized that not all Michigan counties exceeded the United States cesarean rate of 32.7% like Oakland and Macomb Counties.  In fact there were numerous hospitals that were under 28%.  I have listed below the hospitals that delivered a total of 700 births or more in a year period and had a cesarean rate at approximately 28%.

Bay Medical Center East                                            27.96%                                    Bay County

Borgess Medical Center                                             27.52%                                    Kalmazoo County

Foote W. A Memorial Hospital                                  26.09%                                    Jackson County

Henry Ford Hospital (NICU)                                     27.64%                                    Wayne County

Henry Ford Wyandotte General                                 28.44%                                    Wayne County

Hutzel Hospital                                                          27.54%                                     Wayne County

Oakwood Hospital (Annapolis) (NICU)                    27.33%                                     Wayne County

An interesting thing to note is that four out of the seven hospitals listed above are from Wayne County.  What is Wayne County mothers and doctors doing differently than Macomb and Oakland County?  If I was choosing a hospital, I would be searching for a hospital with a low cesarean birth rate because cesarean birth is a serious concern to me.  As stated on the CDCs website

“Cesarean delivery is abdominal surgery with short- and long-term risks and consequences, such as surgical complications, admission to neonatal intensive care, and higher costs, compared with vaginal delivery.” (3)

An expecting mother and father MUST know that making a decision to have major abdominal surgery is a major risk to the mother and the baby.  This decision should not be taken lightly!  What is happening in the mother’s mind or even in the doctor’s prenatal care that encourages a women to make the decision to have a cesarean birth?  Is it….

• ·         Fear of not being able to endure labor
• ·         Fear of the “baby being too big”
• ·         Convenience for the mother and/or doctor

What is it? 

Dr. Pam Tomaszycki, D.C.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.  Arnold, J. (2014). CesareanRates.com: Michigan Cesarean Rates. Retrieved August 18, 2015, from http://www.cesareanrates.com/2015/02/Michigancesareanrates.html http://www.cesareanrates.com/2015/02/Michigancesareanrates.html

 2.  Births - Method of Delivery. (2015, January 22). Retrieved August 18, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/delivery.htm

3.  Osterman, M.H.S, M., & Martin, M.P.H., J. (2014, November 5). Trends in Low-risk Cesarean Delivery in the United States, 1990–2013. Retrieved August 18, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr63/nvsr63_06.pdf