Should c/s rates be published? Naming & shaming...

[kristy J]

ANYHOO...as for this topic i still don't think that we really need to know how many c/sects come from each hospital. we don't know peoples backgrounds. and its also a personal choice. whats good for one doesn't suit everyone. if you are not sure ask your OB and make sure the OB / hospital you choose is the right one for you.
I assume people choose the hospital or OB because they like it / them not on statistics. i chose My ob and went to the hospital he works at. (well kinda, but thats another story)

[paradise lost]

I definitely used statistics and medical research in choosing my birth. How are you supposed to MAKE your "personal choice" without any knowledge on the stats? How would it have been if your Ob had suddenly told you at 38 weeks that he couldn't sanction the c-section and you have to birth your twins vaginally, and then said all along he was only going to section for medical need? This is how it is for many women who want to birth vaginally - they go to appointments and are under the impression they will be able to try for a vaginal birth, only to be told in the last weeks of pregnancy a bunch of "reasons" why it has to be a section - if they had access to the stats they wouldn't have to rely on what anyone SAYS, they could see the factual outcomes at their chosen hospital. How on earth is the right to greater clarity in decision making a bad thing?

Bx

[Katnap076]

I'm sure someone will have said this in a previous post, but if a woman had a choice to go to a birthing place which has a lower level of intervention they would.
would you go to a hospital which had a high level of infection, high death rates, poor outcomes for surgery or just poor standards of care if you know about it? I would think that people would opt to go for a centre with higher standards.
there is sooo much politics involved in this , but why would it be bad to see the standards of each hospital and how they perform, maybe with the numbers of how many vaginal by-passes are done in each hospital the out come should also be given. i.e. how well mother and baby have faired and how many post operation complications have happened.??

[paradise lost]

That's a great point katnap! In fact i know of several women in Perth (scotland) who chose not to have and Ob and went midwife only purely because the number of MRSA cases in newborns at the nearest obstetric cnetre was terrifying - WELL above the national average. My friend had to have an emergency section there due to her bubs turning partially-breech (bum, one foot and one hand presenting) during labour and she was VERY concerned. The centre have since pulled their socks up, because the NHS's openness means everyone is fully accountable.

Bx

[~Raven~]

We need to know so we can make informed choices. If you had 2 hospitals next door to eachother would your choice be swayed by having this information at hand?

What needs to happen is for these c/s rates to be categorized and not lumped into one.

There are several different circumstances that c/sect occur and nobody is saying that the mother is the one that should be shamed.

The ones that should be shamed are the medicos/hospitals that create a culture of pushing anxious parents to be into unnecessary interventions that ultimately end up with a distressed baby that needs to be born via c/sect.

[Smoke Jaguar]

make sure the OB / hospital you choose is the right one for you

How do you then make sure if you don't have these figures? Eenie meenie minie moe?
I'll second Bec and reiterate that it's the HOSPITALS that are supposedly being 'shamed', not the people having them (no-one's ever going to suggest this on BB without being censored for being rude and unreasonable!). I didn't think it was that subtle a difference, yet posters are still confusing this.

[BellyBelly]

Yes
41% (547 votes)
No
44% (591 votes)
Only in extreme cases
14% (191 votes)
Total votes
Total of 1329 votes