Recent Trends in Elective Deliveries in New Jersey and California

Julien O. Teitler, Columbia University
Kayuet Liu, University of California, Los Angeles
Rayven Plaza, Columbia University
Angela Clague, University of California, Los Angeles
Peter S. Bearman, Columbia University
Nancy Reichman , Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

C-section and induced deliveries increased by 44 and 150%, respectively, in the US from 1990-2012. C-sections can save lives but confer risks and are at historic highs. Little is known about trends in elective (non-medically indicated) interventions, particularly inductions that lead to C-sections. Using recent Joint Commission guidelines, we document trends in elective C-sections that did not follow inductions, elective inductions that did not lead to C-sections, and C-sections that followed elective inductions in two populous states. We document trends in each delivery method overall and by demographic attributes of mothers (race/ethnicity, age, education, nativity, health insurance status, marital status), and then further stratify by week of gestational age. Preliminary results from NJ show that elective deliveries increased three-fold over a recent 15-year period, with larger increases for higher-SES groups. Notably, 1/3 of induced deliveries were delivered by C-section in 1997, while the rate doubled to 2/3 in 2011.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 210. Flash Session: Recent Trends in Fertility and Contraception in the United States