Pregnancy tips C-Sections, When Are They Really Necessary?

Because of my age, I was told to be prepared for a C-Section. I never really understood that, but apparently older women who have never had a baby have a harder time getting their cervix to dilate. As it turned out, I had a normal delivery without any complications. However, as this article reports, it seems the medical community may be a little to quick to intervene. Read more:

www.newsweek.com

Amid the controversy over what constitutes an ideal birth experience, doctors, researchers and natural-birth advocates agree: Caesareans save lives when medically necessary. But defining medical necessity is complicated. Natural-birth advocates cite a "cascade of interventions" caused by hospitals' practice of using the drug Pitocin to stimulate labor. The drug can cause painful contractions, which doctors treat with an epidural painkiller. The epidural can then retard contractions and lead to more drugs, fetal stress and the doctor's recommendation of a Caesarean. Natural-birth advocates say that hospitals, driven by profits and worried about malpractice, are too quick to intervene. "I compare it to a restaurant. If you have customers who sit at a table and don't order anything, you're not making any money," says Jennifer Block, author of "Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care." Normal labor, Block says, isn't profitable (according to "The Business of Being Born," a Caesarean can cost three times as much as a normal birth). If something does go wrong, in the eyes of the courts "a normal birth is a risk. The courts reward action," Block says.