Cesarean Delivery Rate Hits All-time High
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Published source: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, April 20, 2007
Nearly one in three live births in the United States in 2005 was a cesarean delivery, marking the highest U.S. total cesarean rate ever reported. Since 1996, the total cesarean rate has increased by 46 percent, driven by an increase in the percentage of women having a first cesarean delivery and a decrease in the percentage of women delivering vaginally after a previous cesarean delivery. Cesarean rates vary considerably among states but tend to be lower in the Western mountain states and upper Midwest, and higher in the Southeast and East (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Cesarean Delivery Rates by State, 2005
Cesarean deliveries as a percentage of all live births in 2005.
Reprinted from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Quickstats: percentage of all live births by cesarean delivery—National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2005. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2007;56(RR-15):373.
