More than one in three babies in the U.S. is now delivered by cesarean section, according to a study released today by the hospital quality tracking group HealthGrades. Thirty-four percent of single-baby births in 2009 were done surgically, the highest percentage ever. The study... + read more
The rate of women dying from pregnancy-related complications has increased at a "statistically significant" pace, according to a long-awaited report on maternal deaths released today by the California Department of Public Health. African American, low-income and less-educated women... + read more
What would maternity care look like if doctors only intervened when it was medically necessary? For more than a year now, I’ve been trying to answer that question in terms of the physical health of the mother and child. But for a moment let’s forget about increasing maternal... + read more
The number of women giving birth early – often for no medical reason – has increased dramatically over the past two decades, altering the way we bear children and posing new health risks to both mothers and newborns, experts say. + read more
Browse the low-risk C-section rates at 253 California hospitals. The highest rate is 47 out of 100 low-risk births at Los Angeles Community Hospital and the lowest rate is 7 at St. Helena Hospital Clearlake. + read more
A massive new analysis of worldwide maternal mortality shows that deaths are down significantly around the globe – but in the United States, deaths are up to 17 per 100,000, compared to the last U.S. estimate of 12 per 100,000. This suggests that California’s most recently reported... + read more
