I think the data shows that the increased rate of C section births is NOT necessarily accompanied by decreases in the bad outcomes these supposedly help avoid.
Actually, our case may be the perfect example of this. Our doc was simply being VERY cautious, and her actions set in motion a chain of "cautious" decisions that didnt stop for a week. She would admit this. She has told us multiple times since the birth that most likely nothing was going on, but "better safe than sorry." Which I tend to agree with... But, I wish I had a better handle on what we were all being so safe about. I think there is reason to believe that part of the 'safety' she (and the medical community)was going after was from lawsuits.
The claim that the increased Csections (and Im assuming other changes prompted by docs attempting to avoid litigation) has improved patient care is just wrong I think. An OB might disagree, but it is at least debateable whether all of these Csections are helping medically. At least, they have NOT decreased the rate of cerebral palsy, J. Edwards main subject.
BTW, the reason for our Csection was just that our baby's heart rate stopped regularly increasing during contractions. It was still a normal heart rate and everything else looked good. The week in the NICU was because at birth they caught a small pneumothorax and, adding this to the "difficult birth", caused a neonatologist brought for the section to think the NICU might be a good idea. The pneumo cleared up after about 6 hours without any intervention, but at our hospital babies dont "step down" to a floor nursery once in the ICU. We got an extra ?1 or 2 days? in the hospital because the xray that showed the pneumo had cleared up, had what the neonat said "could be early pneumonia" Again, out of "caution", he recieved a course of gentimycin. The next xray showed no infiltration, and noone seemed sure there had been anything in the first place... but, "better safe than sorry."
Anyway, everybody involved has said that the steps taken were them being extremely cautious... for which I have thanked them many times. But, I wonder if this sort of "caution" is actually necessary/beneficial? Ive heard many docs say no... unless we mean beneficial for making the case that "you did everything possible" when staring down a litiGATOR after a bad result.