Obesity associated with cesarean delivery - again

This time the study was conducted in England, in which a rise in the cesarean rate from 6.5% to 19% had been identified over a 15 year period (between 1992 and 2006). In order to investigate further, a second phase of the study looked at the data of 126 women - 99 of whom were non-obese and 27 of whom were obese.

"Statistical analysis compared the delivery outcomes between the two groups and showed that obese women were 5.82 times more likely to have a caesarean section compared with non-obese women. This finding was highly statistically significant."

So these women were five times more likely to need a cesarean. Other studies have shown similar results (see my website for more details), and yet still in America (where obesity has been termed an "epidemic" by many medical professionals), the finger of blame for a rising cesarean rate is pointed at obstetricians.

Of course, it could be argued that the fact that increased maternal weight (and indeed maternal age) is associated with cesarean delivery outcomes does not necessarily prove that these women 'needed' the cesarean. I accept that, but the fact that this proven link is rarely discussed by natural birth advocates in their condemnation of rising cesarean rates is (for me) somewhat questionable.