While common, Cesarean sections (C-sections) pose risks for children and mothers, including longer recovery periods, increased risk of infections, and the possibility of injuries and even death. Moreover, many C-sections aren’t medically necessary, according to experts.
To reduce C-sections and improve birth outcomes, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Neel Shah and colleagues have launched a pilot program called the “Team Birth Project” that is being tested at several hospitals. The program was featured in a November 24, 2018 NPR article that chronicled the birth of twin boys at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Mass., one of the pilot sites.
“We’re fairly confident that, when you look nationally, the plurality — if not the majority — of C-sections are probably avoidable,” Shah, research associate in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Harvard Chan School and director of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs, said in the NPR article.
The Team Birth Project aims to overhaul how labor and delivery are handled at hospitals, from when women are admitted to how doctors and nurses communicate about the mother’s preferences and delivery plan.
Read the NPR article: Twin’s Difficult Birth Put A Project Designed To Reduce C-Sections To The Test