Why pregnant black women are susceptible to unnecessary cesarean sections

Recent research shows that while pregnant, black women are 25% more likely to have an unnecessary cesarean section compared to white women, and researchers are investigating the explanations for this disparity.

Although a cesarean section (C-section) is essentially the most common surgery in U.S. hospitals, it’s latest test from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that black women are almost 25% more likely than white women to have an unnecessary cesarean section, increasing the chance of surgical complications. November 30 John Yang z spoke with investigative reporter Sarah Kliff to read the findings and learn why Black women are more likely to undergo the medical procedure.

Yang pointed to Kliff’s hypothetical example of a black mother and white mother entering the identical hospital with the identical medical history and doctor, but only the black woman was 20% more likely to deliver her baby by cesarean section.

“Which really begs the question, you know, why is this happening?” Kliff asks, prompting Yang to ask for a final answer.

“There is no one answer,” Kliff said. “There are several theories, but we can’t exactly get inside the doctors’ heads.”

Theories include doctors possibly trying to combat the upper maternal mortality rate amongst black women by getting them into surgery sooner to avoid complications. Another theory is that they are ignoring Black women’s opposition to cesarean sections.

“It’s hard to say. But we definitely know that something different is going on for these black women,” Kliff notes.

While there are medical the explanation why a health care provider would schedule a cesarean section, which brings its own set of advantages to the patient, an unplanned cesarean section carries additional risks for the patient.

“It has a lot of risk of adding major surgery to the delivery,” Kliff said. “A caesarean section is a serious abdominal surgery. There is a risk of infection and hemorrhage. There are rare threats, but they are being added.”

Cliff continued. “When you do a cesarean section. There is an increased recovery period after the birth of a newborn, which, as any parent knows, is a really difficult time due to the major surgery you are recovering from. There is also financial risk. A cesarean section is more expensive, so the patient may end up with higher labor bills if she ends up giving birth this way.”

In terms of correlation, researchers found that in hospitals that were less busy and had empty operating rooms, in periods when black moms gave birth by unnecessary C-section, they were more likely to give birth by unnecessary C-section compared to busier hospitals , through which only black and white women needed a cesarean section. -section receive them at equivalent rates.

The study suggests that medical records are not the one thing that influences the kind of care someone receives, especially for pregnant women. Other aspects include race and whether the hospital is busy or has an empty operating room it wants to fill.

“It’s not just about what we need, but all the other factors that are completely outside of our control that contribute to the care we receive,” Kliff said.