Caesarean Section

C-sections can be necessary for a high-risk pregnancy, such as having twins. However, there is substantial evidence to show that the procedure is overused at alarming rates, exposing more mothers to what can be dangerous surgery.

For many women, C-sections are seen as the ‘safer’ option, as it was in my own case. But research shows that C-sections pose a much greater risk to the mother than vaginal deliveries, with potential problems including damage to the bladder, infection, heart attack or kidney failure. Women are twice as likely to experience a severe hemorrhage following a C-section compared with a vaginal birth. Bleeding out after giving birth is one of the leading causes of childbearing related death.

Uterine scarring is another risk that has risen over recent years. This scarring can cause chronic pain, abnormal bleeding and may require surgical removal before subsequent pregnancies. Typically, they lead to subsequent C-sections, which increase these risks every time.

Black women are more likely to be denied a vaginal birth if they have previously had a C-section. Vaginal births after caesarean delivery (VBACs) result in decreased deaths and a decrease in the overall caesarean rate, yet Black women are less likely to be offered the option of a VBAC and are often actively discouraged by physicians.

Despite this history, Black women’s bodies are often viewed as problematic when it comes to giving birth. Pelvic structures vary by ethnicity and even geography. But instead of teaching students to deliver babies from the wide range of body shapes in today’s multi-ethnic societies, medical books commonly treat the average white woman’s pelvis as the gold standard for vaginal delivery. Rather than learn how to support us to give birth vaginally, it’s easier to cut us open.

C-sections are a profitable business

US hospitals charge an average of $22,646 for a C-section compared with $12,915 for a ‘normal’, uncomplicated pregnancy.

The 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) meant that more Black women had medical insurance than before, but it didn’t remove the profit motive from hospitals, meaning there’s more incentive for hospitals to push women down the most profitable path, knowing their insurance company can pay.

Between 2008 and 2018, C-section rates increased for Black women, while they decreased among white women.

Source: Why do Black women in the US have more C-sections than white women? | openDemocracy