Monday, March 16, 2009

Maternal deaths drop by 59% in China

I am highlighting this article by Wang Zhuoqiong of the China Daily, because I am aware that an increasing number of women in China are now choosing planned cesarean delivery as their preferred birth plan.

The reported 59% drop in maternal deaths has occurred mainly in urban areas as opposed to rural, and while I have no evidence to prove it, I wonder aloud whether this improvement in maternal outcomes may be as a result of increased planned cesareans...?

Obviously in China, women tend to only have one baby, which reduces or even avoids the risks associated with future surgeries, and as I have written about in the past, China could make a very interesting case study of planned primary cesarean risks and benefits. Unfortunately, there is the issue of setting delivery dates due to superstitions related to lucky numbers, but aside from that, the data could be very revealing.

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