Children 

Scheduling baby's birthday: The culture - and risks - of elective induction

Partner: 
KPCC Southern California Public Radio
Summary: 

The practice of scheduling an early childbirth may be on the way out in California and the United States. Research shows that newborns have heightened health risks when deliveries occur in the 37th and 38th weeks of pregnancy. That’s led growing numbers of hospitals to prohibit doctors from scheduling deliveries during that time, unless there is a medical reason to deliver. It’s a pendulum swing for a practice of 'elective deliveries' that had gained growing favor, among both doctors and mothers, for the convenience of having a delivery on a date certain. The new trend also is shining a spotlight on labor inductions, which are now quite common but which carry their own risks of complications.

Results
Childbirth by appointment
Lauren M. Whaley, CHCF Center for Health Reporting | February 17, 2012
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Results
BLOG: The Myth of the Big Baby
Lauren M. Whaley | March 16, 2012
My friend had been pushing for four hours. “You have a size nine baby coming out of a size seven pelvis,” her doctor said. I heard several similar stories while reporting on elective deliveries. The baby is too big to push out. My friend’s daughter was 8 pounds 11.5 ounces. She was born, eventually, by Cesarean section. Not, technically, a “big baby.”  Big Baby Syndrome is also known as Large for Gestational Age or fetal macrosomia. Sometimes, it’s defined as babies born weighing 4,000 grams - 8 pounds 13 ounces - or more. Sometimes, the cutoff is 4,500 grams - 9 pounds 15 ounces.
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Results
BLOG: Questions and answers about early elective childbirth
Lauren M. Whaley | March 21, 2012
We’ve reported extensively on how hospitals across the state and country are reducing early elective deliveries of babies. To follow up my report on scheduling childbirth, I talked with research sociologist Christine Morton, PhD. Morton is project manager for the California Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review and other projects at California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative.
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