PUBLIC HEALTH


A lost art ACOG aims to cut cesarean rates


Houston obstetrician-gynecologist Carla Ortique, MD, helps patients understand the risks associated with cesarean deliveries. She says new recommendations represent “an important first step in changing patients’ and physicians’ attitudes toward cesarean sections.”


“It’s going to take a while before the trends change.”


BY KARA NUZBACK Cesarean births can be lifesaving for a mother and her baby dur- ing a difficult delivery. But new data indicate overuse of the procedure, often putting mothers at risk of excessive blood loss and long recovery times. Medical groups are now urging physicians to allow longer labor times to cut down on the country’s high cesarean section rate and to improve patient safety. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine published a joint study, “Safe Prevention of the Primary Cesarean Delivery,” in the March issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AJOG).


June 2014 TEXAS MEDICINE 41


JIM LINCOLN


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