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and repeat cesareans — often for reasons of
convenience, impatience or cold hard cash —
is simply unhealthy and unsound. “The true
need for cesarean is so small,” Clark says, her
dark brow furrowing behind her glasses as she
unhooks her overalls for River, her 16-month-
old son, to breastfeed. “And in our country it’s
extremely high.”
Misconceptions
Few medical providers in Eugene’s birthing
community would argue that cesarean sections
don’t have a legitimate place in obstetrics. In a
case of uterine rupture, which occurs in about
two percent of all births, a cesarean is often
necessary. Cesareans are also the safest option
when the mother has an active herpes outbreak
or medical complications that block the cervix.
Prior to modern cesarean methods, many of the
babies and mothers with these complications
would have died.
But today’s mothers are requesting and
receiving cesareans for a plethora of other rea-
sons, including convenience and (mistakenly)
safety. “I think that’s a common misconception
for women that cesarean sections are safer, and
that they’ll save the baby,” Clark says. “Well,
the U.S. is 27th in infant mortality rate in the
world.” The Netherlands, Sweden and Finland,
to name a few, all have significantly lower
infant mortality rates than the U.S. Their
cesarean rates are between 11 and 16 percent.
Under the misconception that c-sections are
safer, more and more women plan their deliver-
ies in advance, says Syndee Carlson, the Labor
and Delivery Patient Care Coordinator at
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in
Springfield. “It is true that c-sections have
become simpler and easier,” says Stafl, who’s
delivered babies for more than 20 years.
“Nevertheless, it’s still a major surgery. The
more c-sections you have, the higher the risk is.”
Those risks include infections, internal
bleeding and scar tissue, which can lead to
problems later in life, he says. “Women
who’ve had a cesarean have a higher chance of
needing other gynecological surgeries in the
future.” And according to the CDC, women
who have emergency or elective c-sections are
four times more likely to die during childbirth
than women giving birth vaginally.
Carlson has also seen an increase in
women who plan “social inductions” —
chemical inductions done for non-medical rea-
sons. For example, many women tell their
doctors when they’d like to give birth. “My
husband can get these three days off work, so
I’d really like to have the baby now,” Carlson
says, imitating a patient.
But it’s not just patients who have jumped
on the convenience wagon. It’s doctors, too,
Clark says. “They’re on a timeline. Even for
women who’ve never had cesareans, [doctors]
like to hurry it up, and then that leads to cesare-
ans.” Because obstetricians are unwilling to
wait out a long labor, she says that chemical
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