Recent increases in the rate of Caesarean birth (or C-section) births have drawn attention to the phenomenon of women electing to choose the procedure over vaginal birth for convenience, appearance, concern about incontinence, sexual function or other reasons. However, studies have shown that elective C-section carries more risks than vaginal birth and should be reserved for only those indications that require it. This story reports on the recent publication in The British Medical Journal of a Latin American study showing an increase in mortality risk to the mothers with elective C-section.
This story does a great job of drawing attention to the problem of the potential overuse of elective C-section. The story is careful to point out that the the problem is with elective C-section, not conditions for which C-section is indicated.
The story adequately describes the design of the current study, however the story could have done more to discuss the limitations of the study and others like it. For example, it can be misleading to directly compare the risks of the two procedures because women who have C-section may have pre-existing conditions that place them at higher risk. And the story could have explored the extent to which the hospitals in South American are comparable to practices in the US.
The story includes the note that "Caesarean can cost three times as much as normal birth."
The story provides information on the risks of C-section versus vaginal birth in absolute terms. [Because the story focuses on the harms of C-section, this criteria will be applied to the presentation of harms of the surgery, not the benefits.]
The story quantifies the risk of death in C-section versus vaginal birth. The story could have done more to describe other, more common risks, such as wound complications and infections.
The story adequately describes the design of the current study, however the story could have done more to discuss the limitations of the study and others like it. For example, it can be misleading to directly compare the risks of the two procedures because women who have C-section may have pre-existing conditions that place them at higher risk. And the story doesn’t explore the extent to which the hospitals in South America are comparable to practices in the US.
The story is clear that there are clear indications for which Caesarean birth is appropriate but that the overuse of the elective procedure is concerning.
The story quotes multiple sources, however only two of them are clinical experts, the others are authors of books or filmmakers.
The story clearly mentions vaginal birth as the alternative to C-section.
Clearly Caesarean birth is available.
Clearly C-sections are not new.
Because the story quotes multiple sources, the reader can assume that the story did not rely on a press release as the sole source of information.
Systematic, Criteria-Driven
We’ve written about the hype of liquid biopsies for years (see link in comment below). And now this…. https://www.statnews.com/2022/01/12/medicare-shouldnt-cover-liquid-biopsies-early-cancer-detection/
Case counts still matter. “(There) are stories that may not be told adequately if only hospitalizations and deaths are emphasized.” @garyschwitzer interviewed by @dbauder of @AP. https://apnews.com/article/omicron-changing-news-outlets-covid-data-da9272f7c4c8a109c3bfb56bed9e9c76
My friend Gary @garyschwitzer wrote to his city council representative in a Minnesota town about a Viva Las Vegas event scheduled for January.
The response he got seems to perfectly capture where we are now.
https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/12/2021-ends-with-covid-craziness-in-sports-and-politics/
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