Time to Take a Page from the NHS Book...

The National Health Service (NHS) Institute for Innovation and Improvement recently released a new initiative and toolkit to "to assist maternity units in achieving low caesarean section rates while maintaining safe outcomes for mothers and babies."


According to this article, after only 18 months, c-section rates dropped from 24% in 2007 to a mere 16% in November 2008.


The idea of a 16% c-section rate is the US seems like a dream. That is half our current c-section rate and very close to the World Health Organization's (WHO) target rate of 10-15% or less.


The truly intriguing aspect of the toolkit is that it is one of introspection. The NHS created a tool to help providers and maternity care units self-evaluate their practices against evidence-based standards, to see how their actions impacted the number of cesarean births and how altering those practices could help or hinder birth outcomes.


The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologist's (ACOG) has stated that they are "committed" to reducing the number of c-sections. However, their approach, in sharp contrast to the NHS, has been to simply blame the mother - we're too fat, too lazy, too old, too small, or even "that's what they wanted" and so on and so forth...ad nauseam...


If ACOG is truly committed to lowering c-section rates nationwide, it's time for them to take a page from the NHS's book: start implementing the necessary steps to create the change you want to see.


Namely, start practicing evidence-based medicine and the rest will follow...