Ohio questions high rates of C-sections | The Columbus Dispatch

 

By Harlan Spector

The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND -- New data on cesarean births in Ohio point to a troubling trend of unnecessary surgeries.

The state's new hospital-performance Web site, Ohio Hospital Compare, shows that more than one-quarter of first-time mothers considered unlikely to need cesarean surgery underwent C-sections anyway in 2008. The figures are consistent with a national cesarean birth rate that has climbed steadily since 1996.

Cesarean surgery is called for when there are problems, such as the baby is turned in the wrong direction. But across the nation, almost one in three births is now by C-section, and criticism has grown from health experts and birthing organizations.

Ohio health officials, under a mandate to collect and report hospital quality measures, are trying to put a finger on the problem by looking at C-section rates among women least likely to need one. They excluded mothers who have complicating issues.

Among 117 hospitals, they found wide variations in C-section rates for these low-risk women. Experts said that, at the very least, the data raise questions about whether hospitals with high C-section numbers are doing too many surgeries, which heightens health risks to mother and child and lengthens hospitalizations. Seven hospitals in the Cleveland-Akron area had rates exceeding 30 percent, which are among the highest in Ohio.

Ohio questions high rates of C-sections | The Columbus Dispatch