Cesarean Birth Baby Sections Eslpod Giving Hospital Woman

Most babies are born in "vaginal births," or come out of the woman without surgery. In recent years in the U.S., however, there have been more and more "cesarean sections" (sometimes called "C-sections"), or births where surgery is done to take the baby out of the woman. Today, the number of caesarean births has reached an all-time high: Almost 30 percent of all births are caesarean. This is a 40 percent increase since 1996.

According to some reports, one reason for this has to do with the age of the women when they give birth. Since women in the U.S. are waiting longer to have children-some in their 30's or 40's-they are having more "complications," or problems when they give birth that require cesarean sections for the baby to be born.

Most doctors still believe that cesarean sections should only be done when there are good medical reasons to do it, such as a risk to the mother's or the baby's health. In the past few years in the U.S., however, there have been more and more "elective" cesarean sections, or cesareans done by the patient's choice. Some doctors believe that there are risks to each type of "deliver," or method for having a baby, and the woman should choose which method is right for her. Other doctors, however, are very worried about this trend because, they say, cesarean sections are serious surgeries that may mean more problems for the mother and the baby than a vaginal birth.