The ethics of cesarean section on maternal request: a feminist critique of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' position on patient-choice surgery

In recent years, the medical establishment has been speaking in favor of women's autonomy in childbirth by advocating cesarean delivery on maternal request (CDMR). This paper offers to look at the ethical dimension of CDMR through a feminist critique of the medicalization of childbirth and its influence on present-day medical ethics. I claim that the medicalization of childbirth reflects a sexist bias with regard to conceptions of the body and needs to be used with caution when applied to women's reproductive health. I then use this perspective to critically analyze the position of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) on the ethics of decision-making in patient-choice surgery. I claim that informed consent cannot be meaningfully exercised unless women are made aware of the sexist underpinnings of the medical model of childbirth and its influence on the ethical reasoning of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. I also express concern about the effects of normalizing patient-choice cesarean sections on the choices available to pregnant women using as examples the institutional rules on mandatory cesarean sections for women with a previous cesarean delivery or breech presentation. I conclude with a call for more research into the real cost of convenience in CDMR, particularly as our increasingly strained publicly funded healthcare system would greatly benefit from the de-medicalization of normal body functions rather than an increased dependence on costly surgical technology.     

硬膜外分娩镇痛转行硬膜外剖宫产麻醉失败的相关因素分析

目的：探讨采用硬膜外分娩镇痛中途转行硬膜外剖宫产麻醉失败的相关因素并对其进行分析。方法：选择来我院进行硬膜外分娩镇痛转而形硬膜外剖宫产麻醉的产妇218例,根据硬膜外麻醉失败的定义将其划分为成功组和失败组,对两组的一般资料、产程中的平均动脉压、硬膜外分娩镇痛情况分别进行比较分析。结果：成功组192例,失败组26例,两组产妇在一般资料上无差异（P〉0．05）。在转行剖宫产前成功组平均动脉压显著低于失败组（P〈O．05）,补救给药的次数上成功组显著低于失败组（P〈0．05）,在镇痛持续时间上成功组显著少于失败组（P〈0．05）。结论：影响硬膜外剖宫产麻醉失败的危险因素是分娩镇痛时需要补救给药的次数增加以及镇痛所持续的时间延长,对于出现此类危险因素的产妇,应改变剖宫产麻醉方式,以最大限度地降低剖宫产麻醉的失败率,这对于母婴并发症的减少起着积极的作用。     

硬膜外分娩镇痛转行硬膜外剖宫产麻醉失败的相关因素分析*

摘要目的：探讨采用硬膜外分娩镇痛中途转行硬膜外剖宫产麻醉失败的相关因素并对其进行分析。方法：选择来我院进行硬膜 外分娩镇痛转而形硬膜外剖宫产麻醉的产妇218 例,根据硬膜外麻醉失败的定义将其划分为成功组和失败组,对两组的一般资 料、产程中的平均动脉压、硬膜外分娩镇痛情况分别进行比较分析。结果：成功组192 例,失败组26例,两组产妇在一般资料上无 差异（P>0.05）,在转行剖宫产前成功组平均动脉压显著低于失败组（P<0.05）,补救给药的次数上成功组显著低于失败组（P<0. 05）,在镇痛持续时间上成功组显著少于失败组（P<0.05）。结论：影响硬膜外剖宫产麻醉失败的危险因素是分娩镇痛时需要补救给 药的次数增加以及镇痛所持续的时间延长,对于出现此类危险因素的产妇,应改变剖宫产麻醉方式,以最大限度地降低剖宫产麻 醉的失败率,这对于母婴并发症的减少起着积极的作用。     

Beyond the Simple Economics of Cesarean Section Birthing: Women's Resistance to Social Inequality

This research explored the reasonsfor women's preferences for cesarean sectionbirths in Pelotas, Brazil. It is argued thatwomen strategize and appropriate both medicalknowledge and the technology of cesareansections as a creative form of responding tolarger public debates (and the practices thatproduced them) on the need for and causes of(de)medicalization. Questioning the reasons whysome women engage more actively in this processthan others elucidates the ways local forms ofpower engage gender, economic and medicalideologies. The current debate on why somewomen prefer c-section deliveries, or indeed ifthey really do at all, has diverted attentionfrom the utility of the technology itself. Thispaper argues that for some women, the effort tomedicalize the birth process represents apractical solution to problems found within themedical system itself. I end by exploring thesocio-biological conditions that have produceda need for the technology.     

The Effects of Different Modes of Delivery on the Structure and Predicted Function of Intestinal Microbiota in Neonates and Early Infants

Several studies have shown that an increased risk of metabolic and immune disorders associated with cesarean section mode of delivery may exist. However, such studies have not been conducted in the Chinese population. Stool sample sequencing of the gene encoding the 16S rRNA of 82 prospectively enrolled 3- and 30–42-day-old vaginal and cesarean section delivered newborns was performed to study the composition and predicted function of the intestinal microbiota. In the samples from the 3-day-old neonates, the levels of Escherichia-Shigella in the two groups were similar. The genera Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Bacteroides were more prominent in the vaginal delivery than in the cesarean section group, which showed a predominance of Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Corynebacterium. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). In the samples from 30- to 42-day-old infants, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Escherichia-Shigella, and Bacteroides were the main genera present in the vaginal delivery group, while in the cesarean section delivery group; the predominant genera were Escherichia-Shigella, Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides, and Staphylococcus. Predicted functions of the vaginal delivery group revealed higher metabolic and biodegradation rates of carbohydrates, vitamins, and xenobiotics than those in the cesarean section group, which contributed to the stability of the microbiota in the former. The abundance of probiotic bacteria such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, and the negative correlation between obesity and Bacteroides presence were higher in vaginally delivered infants than in cesarean-delivered infants at both studied time points.     

The vanishing mother: Cesarean section and "evidence-based obstetrics"

The philosophy of "evidence-based medicine"--basing medical decisions on evidence from randomized controlled trials and other forms of aggregate data rather than on clinical experience or expert opinion--has swept U.S. medical practice in recent years. Obstetricians justify recent increases in the use of cesarean section, and dramatic decreases in vaginal birth following previous cesarean, as evidence-based obstetrical practice. Analysis of pivotal "evidence" supporting cesarean demonstrates that the data are a product of its social milieu: The mother's body disappears from analytical view; images of fetal safety are marketing tools; technology magically wards off the unpredictability and danger of birth. These changes in practice have profound implications for maternal and child health. A feminist project within obstetrics is both feasible and urgently needed as one locus of resistance.     

Acceptance of trial of labor after cesarean (Tolac) among obstetricians in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundBabies to women eligible for trial of labor after a cesarean (TOLAC) are sometimes delivered by cesarean section (CS). To obtain clinicians’ attitudes and beliefs about TOLAC, this study was designed to investigate the views of clinicians when advising TOLAC-eligible pregnant women about TOLAC, and to explore their reasons in favor of or against TOLAC.MethodsInterviews were carried out individually (face-to-face) with clinicians using a specially designed questionnaire to collect data from obstetricians in the Western Region of Saudi. Regression analysis was used as appropriate.ResultsAmong the 183 obstetricians included in the current study, approximately 79.2% were against offering TOLAC. However, most of the physicians (89.1%) were in favor of offering TOLAC to patients who had had a successful vaginal birth after CS. significant associations were found between physicians’ opposition to TOLAC and medical and most non-medical factors.ConclusionClinicians should recognize that the critical role they play in the delivery decision-making process and in boosting women’s confidence in TOLAC may be key to increasing the rate of TOLAC.     

Sex selection and restricting abortion and sex determination

Sex selection in India and China is fostered by a limiting social structure that disallows women from performing the roles that men perform, and relegates women to a lower status level. Individual parents and individual families benefit concretely from having a son born into the family, while society, and girls and women as a group, are harmed by the widespread practice of sex selection. Sex selection reinforces oppression of women and girls. Sex selection is best addressed by ameliorating the situations of women and girls, increasing their autonomy, and elevating their status in society. One might argue that restricting or prohibiting abortion, prohibiting sex selection, and prohibiting sex determination would eliminate sex selective abortion. But this decreases women's autonomy rather than increases it. Such practices will turn underground. Sex selective infanticide, and slower death by long term neglect, could increase. If abortion is restricted, the burden is placed on women seeking abortions to show that they have a legally acceptable or legitimate reason for a desired abortion, and this seriously limits women's autonomy. Instead of restricting abortion, banning sex selection, and sex determination, it is better to address the practice of sex selection by elevating the status of women and empowering women so that giving birth to a girl is a real and positive option, instead of a detriment to the parents and family as it is currently. But, if a ban on sex selective abortion or a ban on sex determination is indeed instituted, then wider social change promoting women's status in society should be instituted simultaneously.     

Successful behavioral strategy to unite mother and infant rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) after cesarean delivery

Developmental studies of pre‐ to postnatal continuities in rhesus monkeys sometimes require infants be reared with their mothers. However, complications during pregnancy or experimental designs may require cesarean delivery. Owing to lack of published information on this subject, strategies are needed to introduce mothers to their infants following cesarean delivery. Using positive and negative reinforcement techniques we attempted to unite six infant rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta, to their mothers following c‐sections. For our seventh subject, we attempted to cross‐foster an infant onto an unrelated female after she had undergone a cesarean surgery for a late‐term spontaneous abortion. The mothers varied in age, parity, previous postnatal mothering experience with infants, housing earlier to delivery, and housing subsequent to introduction. Although there were large individual differences among the mother–infant pairs, all seven introductions were successful. The mothers learned to accept and care for their infants from the continuous application of operant conditioning techniques. These data suggest that mother‐rearing following cesarean section is a realistic possibility whether required for clinical reasons or for proper experimental control. Furthermore, the ability to successfully mother‐rear infants produced from cesarean delivery lessens the impact this potential confound of not being reared by their mothers exerts on many types of developmental studies. Am. J. Primatol. 71:510–522, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Deconstructing Pregnancy: RU486, Seeing "Eggs," and the Ambiguity of Very Early Conceptions

This article deconstructs previous notions of pregnancy. Using empirical data from French women's experience with RU486 for medical abortion, I demonstrate that very early and unwanted conceptions have an ambiguous quality. I illustrate an understanding of pregnancy as a reproductive continuum: these women understand pregnancy to include a stage where "eggs," and not fetuses, are present. I discuss how the use of RU486 creates new ways of knowing about the fetus, and I compare an understanding of the fetus by women using RU486 with previous understandings from ultrasound images, in utero photography, and the imagination. I demonstrate that women's embodied knowledge can expand the parameters of fetal discourse. [RU486, fetal discourse, embodied knowledge, abortion, reproductive technology]     

Obstetric Care and Method of Delivery in Mexico: Results from the 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey

Objective

To identify the current clinical, socio-demographic and obstetric factors associated with the various types of delivery strategies in Mexico.

Materials and Methods

This is a cross-sectional study based on the 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT) of 6,736 women aged 12 to 49 years. Delivery types discussed in this paper include vaginal delivery, emergency cesarean section and planned cesarean section. Using bivariate analyses, sub-population group differences were identified. Logistic regression models were applied, including both binary and multinomial outcome variables from the survey. The logistic regression results identify those covariates associated with the type of delivery.

Results

53.1% of institutional births in the period 2006 through 2012 were vaginal deliveries, 46.9% were either a planned or emergency cesarean sections. The highest rates of this procedure were among women who reported a complication during delivery (OR: 4.21; 95%CI: 3.66–4.84), between the ages of 35 and 49 at the time of their last child birth (OR: 2.54; 95%CI: 2.02–3.20) and women receiving care through private healthcare providers during delivery (OR: 2.36; 95%CI: 1.84–3.03).

Conclusions

The existence of different socio-demographic and obstetric profiles among women who receive care for vaginal or cesarean delivery, are supported by the findings of the present study. The frequency of vaginal delivery is higher in indigenous women, when the care provider is public and, in women with two or more children at time of the most recent child birth. Planned cesarean deliveries are positively associated with years of schooling, a higher socioeconomic level, and higher age. The occurrence of emergency cesarean sections is elevated in women with a diagnosis of a health issue during pregnancy or delivery, and it is reduced in highly marginalized settings.     

CHALLENGING THE RHETORIC OF CHOICE IN PRENATAL SCREENING

Prenatal screening, consisting of maternal serum screening and nuchal translucency screening, is on the verge of expansion, both by being offered to more pregnant women and by screening for more conditions. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have each recently recommended that screening be extended to all pregnant women regardless of age, disease history, or risk status. This screening is commonly justified by appeal to the value of autonomy, or women's choice. In this paper, I critically examine the value of autonomy in the context of prenatal screening to determine whether it justifies the routine offer of screening and the expansion of screening services. I argue that in the vast majority of cases the option of prenatal screening does not promote or protect women's autonomy. Both a narrow conception of choice as informed consent and a broad conception of choice as relational reveal difficulties in achieving adequate standards of free informed choice. While there are reasons to worry that women's autonomy is not being protected or promoted within the limited scope of current practice, we should hesitate before normalizing it as part of standard prenatal care for all.     

Patient decision making: The case of delivery method after a previous cesarean section

In recent years, vaginal birth after cesarean section has become increasingly available to American women. Presently, about two-thirds of women who have had one previous cesarean section choose in their current pregnancies to attempt a trial of labor for normal vaginal delivery. About one-third who are given the option still choose elective repeat cesarean section. This paper reports findings from a study conducted to explore how women with a previous cesarean section evaluated the two delivery options and what factors were important to them in making their choices. The data for the analysis were collected during semi-structured interviews of 100 prenatal care patients at three San Francisco Bay Area hospitals during their third trimester of pregnancy. Particular attention is given to two dimensions of patient decision making that clinical researchers studying childbirth after previous cesarean delivery have overlooked. The first describes the social motives that lead women to prefer one delivery option over the other. The second describes negotiation strategies that patients use with physicians to gain decision making power and to reduce uncertainty surrounding labor and delivery.     

Perinatal outcome analysis of twin pregnancies at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Central Clinical Hospital of Ministry of Interior and Administration in Warsaw in the years 2005-2006

A group of 59 twin pregnant women who gave birth at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Central Clinical Hospital of Ministry of Interior and Administration in Warsaw in the years 2005-2006. The patients have been divided into four groups: spontaneous twin pregnant women (n=16), twin pregnant women after in- vitro fertilization (IVF) (n=11), twin pregnant women after in-vitro fertilization with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) (n=29) and twin pregnant women after ICSI and transfer of frozen embryos (n=3). In one case intrauterine death of one of twins in the 34th week of gestation has been noticed. The cause of the death was umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. The gestation was ended with cesarean section and Apgar score of the second twin was 8 in the fifth minute. In one case there was an urgent indication for a cesarean delivery of children with a very low birth weight (because of intrauterine infection, preterm labor in progress) and in three cases at least one of twins with a low birth weight. Among the group 19 women (32%) have given birth prematurely. The Apgar score in the first, third and fifth minute has been statistically significant and inversely proportional dependent only on the gestational age. There were no differences in birth weight among study groups regardless the way of conception. Only two spontaneous twin pregnant patients have had a vaginal labor. By the remaining 57 patients there has been an elective cesarean section in thirty five cases and there has been an urgent indication for cesarean section in twenty two cases.     

Cesarean Section and Rate of Subsequent Stillbirth,Miscarriage, and Ectopic Pregnancy: A Danish Register-Based Cohort Study

Background

With cesarean section rates increasing worldwide, clarity regarding negative effects is essential. This study aimed to investigate the rate of subsequent stillbirth, miscarriage, and ectopic pregnancy following primary cesarean section, controlling for confounding by indication.

Methods and Findings

We performed a population-based cohort study using Danish national registry data linking various registers. The cohort included primiparous women with a live birth between January 1, 1982, and December 31, 2010 (n = 832,996), with follow-up until the next event (stillbirth, miscarriage, or ectopic pregnancy) or censoring by live birth, death, emigration, or study end. Cox regression models for all types of cesarean sections, sub-group analyses by type of cesarean, and competing risks analyses for the causes of stillbirth were performed. An increased rate of stillbirth (hazard ratio [HR] 1.14, 95% CI 1.01, 1.28) was found in women with primary cesarean section compared to spontaneous vaginal delivery, giving a theoretical absolute risk increase (ARI) of 0.03% for stillbirth, and a number needed to harm (NNH) of 3,333 women. Analyses by type of cesarean section showed similarly increased rates for emergency (HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.01, 1.31) and elective cesarean (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.91, 1.35), although not statistically significant in the latter case. An increased rate of ectopic pregnancy was found among women with primary cesarean overall (HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.04, 1.15) and by type (emergency cesarean, HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.03, 1.15, and elective cesarean, HR 1.12, 95% CI 1.03, 1.21), yielding an ARI of 0.1% and a NNH of 1,000 women for ectopic pregnancy. No increased rate of miscarriage was found among women with primary cesarean, with maternally requested cesarean section associated with a decreased rate of miscarriage (HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.60, 0.85). Limitations include incomplete data on maternal body mass index, maternal smoking, fertility treatment, causes of stillbirth, and maternally requested cesarean section, as well as lack of data on antepartum/intrapartum stillbirth and gestational age for stillbirth and miscarriage.

Conclusions

This study found that cesarean section is associated with a small increased rate of subsequent stillbirth and ectopic pregnancy. Underlying medical conditions, however, and confounding by indication for the primary cesarean delivery account for at least part of this increased rate. These findings will assist women and health-care providers to reach more informed decisions regarding mode of delivery. Please see later in the article for the Editors'' Summary     

An Experimental Paradigm for the Prediction of Post-Operative Pain (PPOP)

Many women undergo cesarean delivery without problems, however some experience significant pain after cesarean section. Pain is associated with negative short-term and long-term effects on the mother. Prior to women undergoing surgery, can we predict who is at risk for developing significant postoperative pain and potentially prevent or minimize its negative consequences? These are the fundamental questions that a team from the University of Washington, Stanford University, the Catholic University in Brussels, Belgium, Santa Joana Women''s Hospital in São Paulo, Brazil, and Rambam Medical Center in Israel is currently evaluating in an international research collaboration. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide optimal pain relief during and after cesarean section by offering individualized anesthetic care to women who appear to be more ''susceptible'' to pain after surgery.A significant number of women experience moderate or severe acute post-partum pain after vaginal and cesarean deliveries. ¹ Furthermore, 10-15% of women suffer chronic persistent pain after cesarean section. ² With constant increase in cesarean rates in the US ³ and the already high rate in Brazil, this is bound to create a significant public health problem. When questioning women''s fears and expectations from cesarean section, pain during and after it is their greatest concern. ⁴ Individual variability in severity of pain after vaginal or operative delivery is influenced by multiple factors including sensitivity to pain, psychological factors, age, and genetics. The unique birth experience leads to unpredictable requirements for analgesics, from ''none at all'' to ''very high'' doses of pain medication. Pain after cesarean section is an excellent model to study post-operative pain because it is performed on otherwise young and healthy women. Therefore, it is recommended to attenuate the pain during the acute phase because this may lead to chronic pain disorders. The impact of developing persistent pain is immense, since it may impair not only the ability of women to care for their child in the immediate postpartum period, but also their own well being for a long period of time.In a series of projects, an international research network is currently investigating the effect of pregnancy on pain modulation and ways to predict who will suffer acute severe pain and potentially chronic pain, by using simple pain tests and questionnaires in combination with genetic analysis. A relatively recent approach to investigate pain modulation is via the psychophysical measure of Diffuse Noxious Inhibitory Control (DNIC). This pain-modulating process is the neurophysiological basis for the well-known phenomenon of ''pain inhibits pain'' from remote areas of the body. The DNIC paradigm has evolved recently into a clinical tool and simple test and has been shown to be a predictor of post-operative pain.⁵ Since pregnancy is associated with decreased pain sensitivity and/or enhanced processes of pain modulation, using tests that investigate pain modulation should provide a better understanding of the pathways involved with pregnancy-induced analgesia and may help predict pain outcomes during labor and delivery. For those women delivering by cesarean section, a DNIC test performed prior to surgery along with psychosocial questionnaires and genetic tests should enable one to identify women prone to suffer severe post-cesarean pain and persistent pain. These clinical tests should allow anesthesiologists to offer not only personalized medicine to women with the promise to improve well-being and satisfaction, but also a reduction in the overall cost of perioperative and long term care due to pain and suffering. On a larger scale, these tests that explore pain modulation may become bedside screening tests to predict the development of pain disorders following surgery.     

A response to Dodds and Jones

In response to "Surrogacy and Autonomy," by Susan Dodds and Karen Jones in this issue of Bioethics, the author concedes that only a surrogacy practice stringently regulated by good counseling, escape clauses for pregnant women, and the prohibition of profit-making agencies will save women from exploitation, but she objects to singling out women for paternalistic "protection against themselves," and to defending women's autonomy to the extent of their right to behave in ways known to harm a fetus. Dodds and Jones' concerns about attitudes toward women, genetic bias, the concept of children as property, and the harm principle generated by surrogacy contracts are answered with arguments for why surrogacy should not be illegal.     

Northern obstetrics: a 5-year review of delivery among Inuit women.

There are over 18,000 Inuit in the Northwest Territories. As a group they have the highest birth rate, the lowest cesarean section rate and one of the highest perinatal death rates in Canada. We reviewed the obstetric experience of 512 Inuit women who either gave birth at Stanton Yellowknife Hospital or were referred from Yellowknife and gave birth at a southern facility between January 1981 and December 1985. Our experience is consistent with that documented in earlier reviews, which concluded that Inuit women tend to have efficient uterine action, to endure labour well and to rarely have dystocia. During the periods covered by these reviews delivery was frequently in the settlements; now hospital delivery is the norm. Substantial improvements in perinatal outcome are evident, but there remains a considerable gap between the northern and southern experience. Those attempting further progress must recognize that the need for obstetric care away from the home community is not fully appreciated by Inuit women, their families or their communities.     

EGG FREEZING: A BREAKTHROUGH FOR REPRODUCTIVE AUTONOMY?

This article describes the relatively new technology of freezing human eggs and examines whether egg freezing, specifically when it is used by healthy women as 'insurance' against age-related infertility, is a legitimate exercise of reproductive autonomy. Although egg freezing has the potential to expand women's reproductive options and thus may represent a breakthrough for reproductive autonomy, I argue that without adequate information about likely outcomes and risks, women may be choosing to freeze their eggs in a commercially exploitative context, thus undermining rather than expanding reproductive autonomy.