"It's like a zipper -- they open you and then close you back up."
The AP is running a story about the soaring rate of C-sections:
The rate of Caesarean sections in the U.S. has climbed to an all-time high, despite efforts by public health authorities to bring down the number of such deliveries, the government said Tuesday.
Nearly 1.2 million C-sections were performed in 2004, accounting for 29.1 percent of all births that year, the National Center for Health Statistics reported. That is up from 27.5 percent in 2003 and 20.7 in 1996.
The rate has increased from 5 percent in 1970, according to the article. There are lots of reasons, from an excess of caution by doctors and hospitals fearing malpractice, to "convenience":
Experts say many factors drove the rate: Mothers increasingly preferred the convenience of C-sections, which could be scheduled. Technological innovations let doctors better see problems before birth.
John Hawks Department of Anthropology
University of Wisconsin—Madison
Copyright © 2007 John Hawks