The nation's c-section rate is increasing at alarming rate. What can women do to avoid having a c-section? By choosing a health care provider and birth facility with a holistic approach to pregnancy and birth, women can improve the likelihood of having a vaginal birth. Birth centers have documented significantly lower rates of cesarean births (4.4%), which are less than rates recommended by the World Health Organization.

The landmark “National Birth Center Study” published in the New England Journal of Medicine in December 1989 found that “few innovations in health services promise lower cost, greater availability and a high degree of satisfaction with a comparable degree of safety [... and ...] that modern birth centers can identify women who are at low risk for obstetrical complications and can care for them in a way that provides these benefits.” The study also showed that birth centers have a cesarean section rate of 4.4%, which is about one half that of studies of low risk, in-hospital births. And, of mothers evaluating their care in birth centers, 98.8% would recommend it to friends and/or return to the center for a subsequent birth.

The birth center is a homelike facility, existing within a healthcare system with a program of care designed in the wellness model of pregnancy and birth. Birth centers are guided by principles of prevention, sensitivity, safety, appropriate medical intervention, and cost effectiveness. Birth centers provide family-centered care for healthy women before, during and after normal pregnancy, labor and birth.

The American Association of Birth Centers is the nation's most comprehensive resource on birth centers. A non-profit membership organization founded by the Maternity Center Association under a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation of New York, AABC is dedicated to developing quality holistic services for childbearing families that promote self-reliance and confidence in birth and parenting. AABC publishes materials on birth centers, sets national standards for birth center operation, and promotes state regulations for licensure and national accreditation by the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers. More information about AABC can be found at www.BirthCenters.org*

*Article taken from a Press Release dated 3/14/2006 from the AABC