PENNSYLVANIA C-section deliveries

Statistics on Mercer and Lawrence county hospitals, and other information about Caesarean section deliveries in Pennsylvania in 1999 contained in a joint report by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and Pennsylvania Department of Health:
DEFINITION
A C-section is a surgical procedure in which the infant is delivered through an incision made in the mother's abdominal and uterine wall. Almost all C-sections today are performed with a transverse incision (bikini cut) low in the uterus, which greatly reduces the risk of rupture during labor in subsequent pregnancies.
KEY FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
The vaginal birth after Caesarean (VBAC) rate fell from 39.7 percent in 1996 to 34.8 percent in 1999. The rate reflects the number of women who delivered previously by C-section, but had a vaginal delivery in a subsequent pregnancies. The lower rate means fewer women proportionally delivered vaginally after a previous C-section.
The top reason for a C-section in 1999 was a previous C-section. The number of repeat C-sections for women at low risk for a C-section delivery was 9,322. The statewide repeat rate for women considered to be low risk for a C-section was 62.7 percent.
The total number of deliveries in 1999 in the state was 139,368 -- 29,473 of which were by C-section. Statewide, the VBAC rate was 34.8 percent, and the repeat C-section, low-risk delivery rate, 62.7 percent.
An analysis of birth data by the Pennsylvania Department of Health showed little substantive differences in the rate of C-section deliveries because of racial or urban/rural factors. Mothers with less than a high school education, however, had a rate of 14.4 percent and mothers with a high school education or more had a rate of 22.1 percent.
Physicians generally agree that VBAC is safe for women who have had transverse procedures. A higher repeat C-section rate in the low-risk delivery category suggests that the possibility of clinically unnecessary C-sections be explored, according to the study.
C-SECTION AND VBAC RATES
For Mercer and Lawrence county hospitals with 50 or more deliveries in 1999:
Sharon Regional Health System: 645 deliveries; 88 C-sections; VBAC rate, 48.2 percent; repeat C-section, low-risk delivery rate, 48.7 percent.
UPMC Horizon: 626 deliveries; 130 C-sections; VBAC rate, 39.5 percent; repeat C-section, low-risk delivery rate, 52.2 percent.
United Community: 308 deliveries; 82 C-sections; VBAC rate, 25.5 percent; repeat C-section, low-risk delivery rate, 70.5 percent.
Ellwood City: 194 births; 52 C-sections; VBAC rate, 13 percent; repeat C-sections, low-risk delivery rate, 87 percent.
Jameson Memorial: 444 births; 54 C-sections; repeat C-sections, low-risk delivery rate, 44.7 percent.
St. Francis: 255 births; 62 C-sections; VBAC rate, 13.8 percent; repeat C-section, low-risk delivery rate, 86.2 percent.