BirthStats: rates of cesarean delivery, and unassisted and assisted vaginal delivery, United States, 1996, 2000, and 2006.

摘要

The rise in the rate of births by cesarean delivery has been accompanied by a decrease in the rate of vaginal delivery and in the use of forceps or vacuum extraction, methods that are used to assist vaginal delivery (i.e., assisted vaginal delivery). Between 1996 and 2006, births by cesarean delivery rose by 50 percent, from 20.7 to 31.1 percent. At the same time, the rate of assisted vaginal delivery declined from 11.8 to 6.6 percent and the rate of unassisted vaginal births fell from 67.5 to 62.3 percent. The pace of these changes accelerated between 2000 and 2006.