Children 

Rethinking early childbirth: Hospitals crack down on 'convenience' deliveries

Partner: 
Contra Costa Times
Oakland Tribune
San Jose Mercury News
Summary: 

The day when doctors and mothers-to-be schedule early deliveries may be coming to an end.  Hospitals are cracking down on a practice that many practitioners and pregnant women have favored because of the convenience factor.  But studies have demonstrated that the practice can be harmful to newborns, and inevitably drives up hospital costs.  Some hospitals are telling doctors they'll have to go elsewhere if they want to schedule an early delivery.

Results
Dramatic gains by California hospitals in reducing early deliveries
Emily Bazar, CHCF Center for Health Reporting | January 30, 2012
Some California hospitals are dramatically reducing early elective deliveries of babies, saying that scheduling births for convenience must end. Citing dangers for both mother and child, these hospitals are prohibiting doctors from scheduling deliveries between weeks 37 and 39 of pregnancy unless there are medical reasons to do so. 
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Results
San Bernardino leads in reducing early childbirth
Emily Bazar, CHCF Center for Health Reporting | January 31, 2012
Photo Credit: March of Dimes The practice of scheduling early childbirths for convenience has nearly disappeared at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center since the hospital started cracking down three years ago.
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Results
BLOG: Small hospitals targeting early births, too
Emily Bazar, CHCF Center for Health Reporting | February 2, 2012
Not all of the California hospitals cracking down on early elective births are urban behemoths that deliver thousands of babies a year. Small ones are taking action, too. Banner Lassen Medical Center in the rural Northern California town of Susanville is a 25-bed hospital that delivers about 250 babies a year. In 2010, it implemented a policy prohibiting doctors from scheduling deliveries between weeks 37 and 39 of pregnancy without a medical reason, trying to put an end to deliveries scheduled for convenience.
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Results
BLOG: Rethinking the definition of "term" pregnancy
Emily Bazar, CHCF Center for Health Reporting | February 6, 2012
Obstetricians hear it from their pregnant patients all the time: My back hurts. I’m swollen. I’m exhausted. Get this baby out of me! “Why do I have to wait for 39 weeks if 37 is good enough?” some have asked Elliott Main, chairman of the ob-gyn department at San Francisco’s California Pacific Medical Center. “Women think it’s fine to deliver at 37 weeks,” he said. Who can blame them? Technically, a “term pregnancy” is one between 37 and 42 weeks of gestation.
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Results
BLOG: Feds announce plan to reduce early elective births
Emily Bazar, CHCF Center for Health Reporting | February 8, 2012
Now the feds are jumping in. This morning, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a national campaign to reduce elective deliveries of babies before 39 weeks of pregnancy, saying the effort will improve care and save millions. Under the “Strong Start” initiative, the government will work with hospitals across the country that have joined the Partnership for Patients, a voluntary effort to reduce preventable injuries and complications.
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