The Facts About Birth

Babies, families and birth are about much more than cold, hard numbers… But the numbers do tell a story about birth in the United States—both the way it is now, and the way it could be.

Jessica's Students

• Less than 15% have had c-sections

• Among those who have had vaginal births, 90% have had no pain medication

Facts About C-Sections

• In 2006, the c-section rate in the United States was 31.1%—a record high, and a 50% increase since 1996
• The World Health Organization has stated that no country in the world is justified in having a c-section rate of more than 15 percent
• In 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set a 15 percent rate as a national goal for the United States by 2010
• Having a cesarean section increases risk to mother and baby of a host of problems, ranging from accidental surgical cuts and infection to infertility and stillbirth with future pregnancies

General Facts About Birth in the U.S.

• The United States has the second-worst infant mortality rate among developed countries—only in Latvia do more babies die
• American infants are 2.5 times more likely to die than babies in Finland, Iceland or Norway, countries where midwifery care is standard for low-risk women
• A CDC study showed that midwife-attended births had an infant mortality rate 19% lower than birth attended by physicians
• The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that midwives should be the principal providers of care for pregnant women
• Only 56 percent of first-time mothers take a childbirth class
• 53% of mothers report feeling fearful as labor approaches
• 41% of women report that their caregiver tried to induce their labor
• Electronic fetal monitoring is used on 94% of women during labor, and among those, 76% were monitored continuously
• 86% of women use one or more type of medication for pain relief during labor, including 76% of all women who had epidural or spinal analgesia
• Among vaginal births, 80% of women had intravenous (IV) fluids administered
• 55% of women received synthetic oxytocin (Pitocin) to strengthen or speed up contraction after labor had begun