Sacramento Bee: More C-sections seen at for-profit hospitals in California

[marmar]

Hospitals across the state are performing Caesarean sections at strikingly different rates – with private medical centers more likely to opt for the expensive surgery than nonprofit hospitals, a California Watch analysis has found.

In addition, some hospitals appear to be performing more C-sections for other nonmedical reasons, including an individual doctor's patience level and the staffing schedules in maternity wards, according to interviews with health professionals.

Statewide, more women are having C-sections for a variety of reasons: a rise in obesity and the number of older mothers; fear of lawsuits among doctors and hospitals; and a growing cultural acceptance of the procedure. Rather than examine these well-known trends, California Watch looked at why some hospitals are performing Caesarean sections at higher rates than others.

The statewide database reveals significant differences among 253 hospitals in California. Women whose pregnancies were deemed low-risk had a 9 percent chance of giving birth by C-section at the nonprofit Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center, for example, while at the for-profit Los Angeles Community Hospital, women also deemed low-risk had a 46.5 percent chance of having a surgical birth. When you factor in moms who needed a C-section for medical reasons, the Los Angeles hospital's rate jumps to 59 percent.

In Riverside County, hospitals just miles apart had dramatically different rates, even though they serve essentially the same population. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/12/3022832/more-c-sections-seen-at-for-profit.html#ixzz0zJpFDSTs

[ensho]

1. making money off women is an age old habit

nt