Experts Worry About Rise in C-sections

Once the delivery option of last resort, Caesarean sections are now all the rage: Nearly 1 in 3 pregnant women had a C-section in 2006, compared with about 1 in 5 a decade earlier. “It’s not unthinkable that in our lifetime, the majority of pregnant women will be having C-sections,” says Bruce Flamm, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Riverside, Calif., and spokesman for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I think you get strong arguments on either side.” Supporters think that surgery eliminates the rare but terrifying complications of vaginal delivery that result in birth injuries or even a baby’s death. Those who favor cutting back on C-sections decry the lengthy recuperation and the increased risks of uterine rupture and other problems during subsequent pregnancies. One driving force behind the surge in surgeries has been the sharp reversal in the trend toward vaginal births after Caesareans after a handful of studies found a VBAC raises the risk of uterine rupture. Yet now doctors may have gone too far in limiting the practice, says Gene Declercq, a professor of maternal and child health at the Boston University School of Public Health who has researched the use of C-sections. More recent research contradicts the worrisome VBAC findings; a study published in the February issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecologyfound that of more than 13,000 women who attempted a VBAC, nearly three-quarters were able to avoid another C-section, and the risk of uterine rupture was less than 1 percent. Obstetricians’ rising malpractice insurance premiums may play a role, too. Individual doctors in many states now pay upward of $100,000 a year for coverage, a figure that can spike if they’re sued for something that goes wrong during labor, regardless of the legal outcome.

Please click on the link below to read the Star-Telegram article:

http://www.star-telegram.com/health/story/662028.html

For more information on defending medical malpractice and nursing home matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at The Citron Law Firm, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Prevention: Breast-Feeding Protects Against Arthritis

A Swedish study suggests yet another health advantage of breast feeding, this time for the mother: it reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis.  Researchers compared 136 women with rheumatoid arthritis with 544 healthy women of similar age. After controlling for factors including smoking and education level, they found that women who breast-fed for 1 to 12 months reduced their risk of arthritis by 25 percent, and that those who breast-fed for more than a year cut their risk in half. “Breast-feeding for an entire year is difficult for many women,” said Dr. Mitra Pikwer, the lead author and an intern at Malmo University Hospital in Malmo, Sweden. “But even if you breast-feed for a month or two, it makes a difference.” Although the mechanism is not clear, the scientists write that the protective effect may come from long-term changes in the mother’s immune system induced by breast-feeding.

Please click on the link below to read the New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/health/research/27prev.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

For more information on defending medical malpractice and nursing home matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at The Citron Law Firm, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.