Recent Studies Show Cesareans Can Pose Dangers to Mothers and Babies

Release Highlights:

• Cesarean rate at record high in U.S.
• Cesarean rise coincides with CDC report that maternal death rate rising for the first time in decades.
• World Health Organization data shows that mothers die at a higher rate in the U.S. than 40 other countries.
• Consumer Reports includes cesarean on “10 overused tests and treatments”

Redondo Beach, CA, December 5, 2007 – The National Center for Health Statistics has reported that the cesarean rate has hit an all-time high of 31.1 percent.

CDC's Preliminary Data for 2006

“There’s no doubt that cesarean surgery is being overused,” said Pam Udy, president of the International Cesarean Awareness Network. “Unfortunately, despite its reputation as a harmless surgery, many women and babies are paying the high price of complications from this surgery.”

Read more . . .

The Virginia Department of Health has released the 2006 Cesarean Rates by Hospital, and the rates are alarming! Click here to read more!

Birthing Doc Sneak Peak A Success according to Leesburg Today!

Sneak Preview on October 29, 2007: "The Business of Being Born"

Birth is a miracle, rite of passage, a natural part of life. But birth is also big business. Join us for an exclusive, sneak preview of a movie that is bound to be the major consciousness-raising documentary film of the year.

When celebrity actress and talk show host Ricki Lake, delivered her first baby, it was a fairly typical birth, yet the experience left her wanting something more. Her second birth experience was so life-changing that she felt compelled to make a movie examining the way we birth in America.

She approached Emmy-award winning filmmaker Abby Epstein to collaborate on "The Business of Being Born" to examine birth culture in America and challenge what we THINK we know. The fundamental question: should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potential medical emergency?

Surprising answers are uncovered in "The Business of Being Born," a must-see movie for anyone even thinking about having a baby!

The doors will open at 6:45 pm. Showtime is 7:30 pm.

Seating is limited. Tickets are $10 each. Proceeds will be donated to ICAN of Northern Virginia (501c3).

$10.00 - Sneak Preview -- The Business of Being Born $30.00 - ICAN Membership & Sneak Preview Ticket

Tickets

You can buy tickets using Google Checkout. Please click on the button above to order your tickets.

Location and Map

The sneak preview will be held at the Tally Ho Theatre in Leesburg, Virginia. Please click on the map to the right for a more detailed view.

Press

Read about The Business of Being Born" in local news:

• Birth of a Notion: Ricki Lake brings pregnancy documentary to Drafthouse
  The Arlington Connection, October 5, 2007
• Film aids revival of home birth
  The Washington Times, October 12, 2007

Watch Ricki Lake on "The View":

They're here! The 2005 cesarean rates by Northern Virginia Hospital show the alarming reality that women will face birthing in a hospital today. Being informed consumers is more important now than ever before, with the National Cesarean Rate at 30.2%, and the Northern Virginia rates at over 36% (in 2005). The World Health Organization states that the rate being above 10-15% correlates to unneccessary cesareans being performed. Educated and empowered moms is more important now than ever before! Please e-mail Lori Cooper for more information.

As the number of cesarean sections in the U.S. continues to mount, so does the research showing that mothers and babies may be paying a high price for this surgery. Research published just in the last year has highlighted the short-term and long-term risks of undergoing a cesarean, for both mother and baby. Other research has called into question the assumed safety advantage of cesarean section over vaginal birth in various situations including vaginal birth after multiple cesareans and breech deliveries. “Everything we know and continue to learn about cesareans supports more judicious use of the surgery,” says Tonya Jamois “but it is clear that the procedure is being overused.” Major pieces of research released in 2006 showed that women who undergo cesareans versus women experiencing a vaginal birth have a higher risk of dying in childbirth, have a higher chance of suffering from potentially fatal placental problems in subsequent pregnancies, and their babies have a higher chance of being injured during surgery. The list of 15 studies that ICAN collected also shows that vaginal birth after cesarean, including multiple cesareans, continues to be a reasonably safe birthing choice for mothers.

New in 2006 - ICAN of Northern Virginia announces it's all new Board of Directors!

The CDC has reported:

• The Cesarean Rate for 2004 is 29.1%
• The Rate is up from 27.6% in 2003
• US Cesareans have risen 40% since 1996
• VBAC Rate fell to 9.2%
• Since 1996, the VBAC rate in the US has plummeted 67%

Read ICAN's Press Release - "Coerced Cesarean Surgeries Feed Growing Nationwide Rate; CDC Reports Highest Ever Cesarean Rate, Loss of VBAC Contributes"

Read CDC Report

ICAN's President, Tonya Jamois, is quoted in a front page USA Today article "Battle Lines Drawn Over C-Sections"

June 18, 2005

A landmark study published June 18 in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) shows planned home births with Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) result in significantly lower cesarean rates than planned hospital births.

The 2000 study by a Canadian epidemiologist and a CPM tracked more than 5,000 pregnant women in the United States and Canada planning home birth. The result was a 3.7 percent cesarean rate among all mothers and a 1.7 percent cesarean rate among women who previously gave birth vaginally.

(Read the rest of the
Press Release)