Healthy Living
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
C-sections: The first cut is the deepest
partner
It's hard to not hear about how
common caesarean sections have become in the U.S.--30 percent of babies
are now air-lifted out of the womb. C-sections are more expensive, and
come with higher complication rates. But the price we pay for more
frequent c-sections may becoming
literal.
Turns out some insurance companies are considering a history of
caesarean delivery a "pre-existing condition," and an excuse to jack up
a woman's premium...or deny her
insurance altogether.
There are multiple reasons
for c-sections: babies are bigger; moms are older with more complicated
pregnancies. And despite stories of scads of women choosing to deliver
via c-section, most of these deliveries are not planned--and many are
not wanted that way. Plus, women don't always have a choice after their first c-section--many doctors won't let them try a natural delivery the next time around. So the idea of charging
women more--or worse, not insuring them--for something that is not
under their control has me crazed. That's the whole idea of insurance,
right? To protect you, financially, when the unexpected happens to your
health? Since when does childbirth fall into a special category? I
think this is another way that insurance companies discriminate against
women, under the guise of belt-tightening...what do you think?
Related Links from Daily Bedpost and Glamour:
[photo credit: Getty Images]
Related: pregnancy, health insurance, childbirth, ceasarean section
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Posted by jhonalyn Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:27am PDT
hi it's my first time here,i have c-sections birth 2 years ago..would that mean in my nxt delivery c-section again or a normal delivery??pls help me
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Posted by jhonalyn Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:31am PDT
hi it's my first time here,i have c-sections birth 2 years ago..would that mean in my nxt delivery c-section again or a normal delivery??pls help me.i'm 26 yrs old now,i gave birth when i was 24
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Posted by Mitzi Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:38pm PDT
I am truly distressed by the number of people who seem to think that everything in life can be "day-planned" and scheduled! When my son was born, I went through the motions of laboring...until my son's shoulders became stuck and there was significant fetal distress. Then an emergency c-section was performed! Needless to say, when he was botn, my son weighed almost 12 lbs! This was not the estimate from the OB....around 8.5 lbs...so I had not planned for C-section. To think that the insurance company would charge more for certain deliveries is absurd! That's discrimination...
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Posted by Carrie Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:44am PDT
That is SO true. Some women think c-sections are the easy way. Let me tell you, I think I would have rather delivered my child vaginally 5 times instead of having to go through the emergency c-section. The recovery from surgery while being a new mom is awful.
New moms out there, don't do it unless you have to!
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Posted by Lana Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:30pm PDT
Reasons for C-sections in most instances? Lawsuits.. Unfortunately drs, nurses and hospitals are managed by the risk of being sued. VBACs also require a doctor to be in-house and labor to be fairly natural to prevent the risk of rupturing the uterus. Rupture can also come from induction. Remember that elective or social inductions carry a lot of risk too (like increased chance of C-section). People have been having babies for a long time. If you really want a good experience, c-s or otherwise, you need to educate yourself, find a good doctor you can work with and be open-minded. I don't agree that insurance companies should consider it a pre-existing condition or charge more because of it. But I do agree that people should be more careful about IVF and c/s rates. Lots of older moms have babies. Lots of older moms have problems with the first baby, though, after a certain age. Pregnancy and delivery hold some risk, like anything in life. Doctors can't be held accountable for everything, but insurance companies shouldn't try to take advantage, either.
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Posted by Belynda Fri Jul 25, 2008 2:08am PDT
I'm currently pregnant for 36weeks and my EDD is on 25/08/2008. This is my second times pregnant. My 1st child is natural delivery and now is 8 years old already. This time pregnancy making me very worry. 3 years ago (April 2005), because my partner we both contract with STD (Genital Herpes type 2). Because there are blisters on my lower body during that time we both go to see doctor and the doctor confirm we get infection of HSV-2. We both have taken blood test on May 2005 and confirm both of us have this HSV-2 antibiotic in our blood. During that time outbreak we both have see STD doc and eaten the medcine prescribe by the doctor and this virus didn't outbreak anymore until today. As i know even we dont see the virus, there will still be possible of infection.
The thing that i'm worry about is passing this virus to baby during natural delivery. Will this virus pass to my baby if i choose to natural delivery,is there any 100% precaution i can take? How can i sure the virus is not there when its tme for delivery....
My gynea doctor told me cesarean delivery is the safest way but i hope can choose natural delivery.....
Another question is
Is it a person contract with HSV-2 cannot donate blood?
Can anyone help me about this.....TQ. :-(
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