Recent patterns in cesarean delivery in the United States.

The United States cesarean rate has risen from 5.5 per 100 deliveries in 1970 to 24.1 per 100 deliveries in 1986 according to the National Hospital Discharge Survey. Less than 10 per cent of mothers have a vaginal birth after a prior cesarean. Women spend an average of 5.0 days in the hospital for a cesarean delivery, but only 2.6 days for a vaginal delivery. The rise in cesareans is partly responsible for a concurrent increase in postpartum sterilization. If age-specific cesarean rates continue the steady pattern of increase observed since 1970, 40 per cent of births could be by cesarean by the year 2000.