Good news: Less Episiotomy and forceps births

While C-Section Births Are On The Rise, Other Birth Interventions Are Falling - And That's Good News. The Number Of Episiotomies And Forceps-Assisted Births Has Decreased Drastically, According To The Agency For Healthcare Review And Quality.

While c-section births are on the rise, other birth interventions are falling - and that's good news. The number of episiotomies and forceps-assisted births has decreased drastically, according to the Agency for Healthcare Review and Quality.

Episiotomy ("surgical incision to widen the vagina during birth"): Decreased 60%
Forceps-assisted births: Decreased 32%
C-section births: Increased 72%

Additionally, despite the fact that births are increasing by 2% each year, the number of hospital stays from childbirth decreased between 2007 and 2008 by 300,000. Besides the risk that c-sections present (of particular significance when they aren't medically necessary), they are expensive. The AHRQ indicates that that "the average childbirth stay involving C-section with no complications cost hospitals an average of $5,700 and $7,600 when there were complications. By comparison, a vaginal childbirth stay without complications cost hospitals an average of $3,400 and $4,400 when there were complications." (Source: Medical News Today) More recent c-section news