Cesarean Sections
C-sections are safer than ever, and women are having them in growing numbers (they accounted for twenty-nine percent of American births in 2004). Many of these were performed on healthy women with low-risk pregnancies. A scheduled C-section certainly makes life easier for doctors, as births are quick and on time. Some women prefer C-sections too; there is no grunting, no pushing, and you can plan the hospital visit. (Though the NIH notes that maternal request cesareans are in fact very rare.) There's nothing risk-free about a vaginal delivery, but a C-section is a major surgical procedure.
Dr. John Zweifler, chief of the University of California , San Francisco-Fresno Family and Community Medicine Department, points out that while your C-section may be faster and easier than a vaginal delivery, you will need more time to heal. Some women believe avoiding labor will keep their vaginas in better shape, but studies suggest that women who have undergone C-sections may not be at less risk for pelvic floor-dysfunction. C-sections are also likely to complicate future pregnancies and multiple C-sections bring risks of complications, including bladder and bowel problems.
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