US caesarean deliveries rise, teen birth rate down

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Caesarean delivery rate for U.S. women hit a record high in 2005, spiking by nearly 50 percent in a decade, while teen births fell to a new low and births by unmarried mothers rose, according to government data released on Tuesday.

Close to a third of all babies born in the United States -- 30.2 percent in 2005, up from 29.1 in 2004 -- were delivered surgically in a procedure also commonly called a C-section.

This marks a 46 percent increase in the Caesarean delivery rate since 1996 and continues an upward trend dating back three decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, or NCHS.

The rate stood at about 5 percent in 1970. C-sections are favored when doctors believe vaginal delivery could cause medical complications, but have become more and more commonplace for what would be considered normal births.

The increase comes amid a controversy over whether some women are opting for medically unnecessary C-sections out of convenience and whether some doctors are performing them because they fear being sued if they do not.

While in the past older mothers were more likely to have a C-section, NCHS statistician Fay Menacker said Caesarean deliveries were increasing for women of all ages and races.

The World Health Organization has recommended C-section rates no higher than 15 percent of births.

Tonya Jamois, president of the advocacy group International Cesarean Awareness Network, said the procedure could be a lifesaver for both mother and baby.

"Unfortunately with a Caesarean rate of over 30 percent, it's just being used way too cavalierly," said Jamois. "I'm incredibly alarmed, as everybody should be."

TEEN BIRTH RATE FALLS

The birth rate for teenagers aged 15-19 fell 2 percent in 2005 from the previous year to 40.4 births per 1,000, the lowest level since such statistics were first collected in 1940. It is a 35 percent drop from a high of 61.8 births per 1,000 teen girls in 1991.

Among black girls ages 15-17, the birth rate fell 6 percent last year compared to 2004 and fell 59 percent since 1991. Overall, there were 421,123 births to females under age 20 in 2005.

NCHS demographer Stephanie Ventura said contraception use and a delay in sexual activity both appear to play a role in the teen birth rate decline.

The percentage of U.S. babies born at low birth weights rose slightly to 8.2 percent of all births in 2005, with an overall gain of about 20 percent in the past two decades.

The number of births to unmarried mothers of all ages surged to 1.52 million in 2005, up 4 percent from 2004, with a rate of 47.6 births per 1,000 unmarried mothers. In all, 36.8 percent of all U.S. babies were born to unmarried mothers, up from 35.8 percent in 2004.

"It's kind of staggering," Ventura said. Ventura said the statistics seemed to suggest more acceptance of unmarried American women having babies.

The overall number of U.S. births edged up 1 percent to 4,140,419 in 2005. Births by mothers in their 30s and 40s also continued to increase as many women postpone motherhood.