C-Section Rates for NOLA Hospitals

1/27/2013

The rates of surgical birth in all but one of our hospitals are far above national averages.

According to the CDC, the national rate of birth via cesarean section for 2011 was 32.8%. This is over double the WHO's ideal recommended rate of 15%, but for most New Orleanians, it's better than we can hope for.

Louisiana has the highest c-section rate in the country at 39.7%. Knowing this, it's not surprising that most of our hospitals just don't stack up.

Touro Infirmary is the notable exception. There, 27.9% (still almost 1 in 3, so don't get too excited...) of birthing women get a c-section. It's the best in our area, the second best in the state, and it even beats the national average.

On the flip side, East Jefferson General Hospital sections 48.7% (nearly half!) of its laboring women. If you're hoping for a vaginal birth, avoid East Jeff like the knife-happy plague.

Cesarean Rates (2011)

United States:
Louisiana:
New Jersey:
Alaska:
New Mexico:

32.8%
39.7% (highest in US)
38.8% (second highest)
22.6% (lowest in US)
22.8% (second lowest)

By Hospital (2009)

Touro Infirmary:
Ochsner Medical Center - West Bank:
Tulane Medical Center:
West Jefferson Medical Center:
Ochsner Medical Center:
Ochsner Medical Center - Kenner:
East Jefferson General Hospital:

27.9%
35.5%
39.9%
43.7%
44.4%
45.1%
48.7%

Learn More:

What Every Pregnant Woman Needs to Know
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How to Avoid a C-Section

Many thanks to Leandra S. for compiling this data and for making it known and available to me.

5 Comments

Shelly Florman

1/26/2013 20:09:41

Another resource for avoiding cesarean:

http://www.healthnews.com/en/news/10-Best-Ways-to-Avoid-a-Cesarean-Section-/08yZEY_Yb3_RHonr9gvkaf/

NOLA High Risk Doc

2/1/2013 03:47:23

Be careful in interpreting the c/s section rate for each hospital because it takes in account all of the delivering physicians present at that facility. Thus a good facility that gets a bunch of referrals of very high risk patients will have a higher c/s rate because a higher number of high risk pregnancies tend to be delivered via cesarean section (i.e. mother or baby is to sick (or breech) to wait around for induction of labor or the uterus is not "mature enough" to labor effeciently).

There is an initiative currently being completed here in the state that will allow patients to see each providers' individual stats in regards to low risk pregnancies (i.e. first timers at term). This is occurring because the state knows that we have a problem in regards to c/s rate and believes that by publishing this data it will put pressure on providers to lower their rate.

But I would recommend in the meantime that each patient ask their provider what is their personal rate. Each doctor knows this data because this is being pushed at each facility to get the numbers lower. At our facility we have a range of 20% to 45% in our generalist OBs. In our MFM/high risk providers that range is 40-60% secondary to the patient's we take care of. (Interestingly the providers that have the lowest rates are also the ones that our resident MDs tend to gravitate to for prenatal care because they feel they provide better care.)

Shelly

2/2/2013 05:16:29

All good points, Doc! Do you have any idea when or where the individual stats will be published? That will be a truly invaluable resource.

In addition to helping you pregnant mamas get a feel for how supportive your provider is of vaginal birth, asking for his/her rate also opens the door for you to talk about your personal birth plan and wishes. It's a good call all around, and should definitely be part of the conversation when you're deciding which doctor to hire.

Jill Arnold link

2/5/2013 05:11:49

As the person who calculated these rates (hi!) from the poor quality data available, I also need to say that the LA report needs to be read in its entirety. http://www.cesareanrates.com/storage/state_pdfs/Louisiana_Cesarean_Rates_Report.pdf

These rates are based on a fraction of the births in LA.

Shelly F.

2/6/2013 11:59:09

Thanks Jill!

I'm looking forward to the full provider stats NOLA High Risk Doc mentioned. That sounds like a great improvement on what's currently available in the research arena.