New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum Finds Alarmingly High C-Section Rates, Hospitals Fail to Provide Maternity Information Required by Law

New York City Public Advocate released a report denouncing the failure of 43 out of the 44 New York City public and private hospitals to provide legally mandated information about rates of maternity interventions upon request (the 44th hospital provided results for 1998).

The Public Advocate also pounced on the rising c-section rate in New York City, citing that it is keeping pace with the rising national rate. "This is unacceptable." Gotbaum stated. "We've got hospitals all over the city that are delivering a third of their babies by c-section."

Presenting at the conference with the Public Advocate were Maureen Corry, executive directory of MCA and Elan McAllister of Choices in Childbirth. The Public Advocate called upon MCA as an expert source on the rising c-section rate and asked MCA to share our research findings comparing outcomes of vaginal and cesarean births, as published in our booklet, What Every Pregnant Woman Needs to About Cesarean Section. Choices in Childbirth ignited the outrage about the city-wide lack of compliance with the Maternity Information Act when their requests for current rates of maternity interventions were not granted.

Below are links you might find helpful. The New York Times ran an article on the rising c-section rate the day of the press conference in which Maureen Corry was quoted. You can also find a link to the Public Advocate's report as a PDF, as well as a link to our cesarean booklet and related in-depth maternity topics that may be of interest to your readers. Also now listed on the Choices in Childbirth website are the 2002 and 2003 hospital labor intervention statistics made available by the New York State Department of Health.

Public Advocate's Home Page
pubadvocate.nyc.gov

Public Advocate's Report:
www.pubadvocate.nyc.gov/documents/AMothersRighttoKnow.pdf

Choices in Childbirth:
choicesinchildbirth.org

NYTimes article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/13/nyregion/13child.html?ei=5070&en=22a9a15974d38e87&ex=1121918400&adxnnl=1&emc=eta1&adxnnlx=1121290917-H1FgDYXew/3FEmS+WdPYuw

Childbirth Connection's home page:
childbirthconnection.org

What Every Pregnant Woman Needs to Know About Cesarean Section:
childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ClickedLink=279&ck=10164&area=27

"Should I Choose VBAC or Repeat C-section?"
childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ClickedLink=293&ck=10212&area=27

"How Can I Prevent Pelvic Floor Problem When Giving Birth?"
childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ClickedLink=281&ck=10206&area=27

You can download the full report, A Mother's Right to Know: New York City Hospitals Fail to Provide Legally Mandated Maternity Information at pubadvocate.nyc.gov.