HOW DO OUR OUTCOMES COMPARE?
Cesarean birth rates have been skyrocketing in the U.S. - up 40% from 1996.
As celebrities popularize elective cesareans and the obstetric community increasingly condones them, there is a growing perception that cesarean surgery is safer or easier than vaginal birth.
Despite the "normalization" of this procedure, it is major abdominal surgery and carries significant short-term and long-term risks to both mother and baby.
A recent report by the World Health Organization published in the Lancet identifies complications from cesarean surgery and anesthesia as the leading causes of maternal death in developed countries, including the United States.
Madison Birth Center offers our clients the opportunity to enjoy an exceptional birth experience. But more importantly, our model of care has resulted in outstanding birth outcomes. We'll let the statistics below do the talking for us:
Madison Birth Center Statistics
World Health Organization Recommends
U.S. National Statistics
Madison Birth Center
Birth Attendant
Midwives for normal pregnancy and birth
8% of births attended by midwives
All our births are with midwives
Place of Birth
Out-of-hospital preferred
99% at hospital
Out-of-hospital
Continuous Electronic Fetal Monitoring
Not routine
Over 85% of all births
Intermittent monitoring only
Drugs in Labor
Not routine
Not reported; but very common
Available; but rarely used
Induction of Labor
10% or less
Over 20% of all births
Less than 10%; natural methods only
Episiotomies
Routine use not justified
Not reported; but common
Less than 1% of all births
Cesarean section rate
10-15% overall
29.1% and growing
3.2%
Breastfeeding
Immediately at birth
Not reported
Immediately at birth
Sources US National Statistics are based on 2003 data published in National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 54, No. 2, September 8, 2005.
The cesarean section rate is from Preliminary Births for 2004, Division of Vital Statistics.
World Health Organization recommendations are from the Joint Interregional Conference on Appropriate Technology for Birth held in 1985.
The conference attended by over 60 participants from north and south America and Europe, representing midwives, obstetricians, pediatricians, health administrators, sociologists, psychologists, economists, and service users.
The recommendations from this conference were based on the principle that each woman has a fundamental right to receive proper prenatal care; and that the woman has a central role in all aspects of this care,
including participation in the planning, carrying out and evaluation of the care. (Lancet. 1985 Aug 24;2(8452):436-7.)
Madison Birth Center statistics are based on our outcomes through 2005.
