Hospital C-section rates

A 2017 article in Medscape suggested it's important for you to know hospital c-section rates as you choose where to have your baby.
Here's a quote from the article, and you can go here to read the whole thing:
'Cesarean delivery rates can vary widely even among hospitals located near one another. ...
"This variation is a critical point in our analysis because there is a big, important take-away for moms. You cannot afford not to know the track record of the hospital where you're delivering," Doris Peter, PhD, director, Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center, said in a statement.'

So we have pulled together some rates for area hospitals to help you find the best place for your birth.

First: here is a chart of total c-section rates for Birmingham hospitals in 2013. This information comes from the web site www.CesareanRates.com. Note that the bars with the black outline are for hospitals where MANY babies are born each year, over 3000. Note too that Cooper Green stopped doing births in 2011, so this rate is old. I include it here because Cooper Green, when women had babies there, was serving people with the LEAST prenatal care and health coverage, and still had a lower section rate than hospitals serving large populations. So when people say that the reason for high section rates is the health of the people giving birth at their hospital, or because the women they serve don't get prenatal care, the rate from Cooper Green shows this is not a good explanation.

UPDATED: 11/15/2020
Next, here is a chart showing section rates in 2017. This information comes from the Alabama 2017 Vital Statistic Report. Please pay attention to the change at Princeton Hospital. This is important because it shows how c-section rates can change drastically when there is a change in practice norms. Dr. Cooper started working at Princeton in 2013; look what happened when she started putting women at the center of decision making about their own care, and hired Certified Nurse Midwives to provide prenatal care and attend births for low-risk birth-givers!!!

The c-section rate at Brookwood Hospital in 2013 was 43.8% (according to www.CesareanRates.com). But they too, are working hard to reduce their section rates. Here is what they have accomplished, as communicated to me by Brookwood Hospital administration in May of 2017. And I quote:

• “Brookwood Baptist Medical Center is committed to continual improvement in lowering C-section rates. Our interdisciplinary team of obstetricians and nurses work collaboratively on strategies to support vaginal birth. When comparing our 2016 data to the 2013 published data we demonstrated a 7.39% reduction in our total C-section rate and a 9.8% reduction in our primary rate. We are very proud that 78.9% of our mothers, who attempted a vaginal birth after a previous C-section were successful. Helping our mothers who desire to achieve a successful vaginal birth is at the heart of our mission.”

Indeed, their rate was 35.6% in 2017.
The rate they quote for successful vaginal births after c-sections (VBAC) is comparable to what the research suggests is possible (70-80%). Although the proportion of people who are offered the opportunity to labor after a previous c-section is less than 15%..

Below is the VBAC rate for each hospital in 2017, again, from the Alabama 2017 Vital Statistics Report

Those are all the numbers I have to share with you. Talk to your doula about how to avoid a c-section when it isn't necessary. And choose your hospital and medical professionals with CARE!

When a c-section is necessary, here are some photos of family friendly practices!!