Week 7 CR Exercise 1.7 Research Proposal

1.Why are Cesarean sections becoming a more frequently used way of birthing a baby?

2.Primary Purpose

• Explore:

Are you limited to the number of kids that you can have if having c-sections?
Are they more cost effective?
Is there danger to baby or mother when an elective c-section is done?
Are c-sections done more often in heavily populated areas? What about in low income areas vs higher income?
Are doctors more comfortable doing this surgery than a vaginal delivery?
Do doctors like to schedule them so that it is in a more predictable environment and they have more control over the situation or do they do them so that they can get it over with quickly and not play the waiting game.
Are there less lawsuits when c-sections are preformed rather than vaginal deliveries?

• Argue

My tentative main claim is that Doctors might be pursuing c-sections for their own benefits rather than the mothers. I believe that there are risk factors involved with a cesarean that are not being revealed to patients as well as they could be vs the risk factors for vaginal deliveries. I also believe that doctors might be reasoning with the patients to elect to have one so that there is a less of a chance for something to go wrong that might bring a lawsuit. Also I believe that by having a c-section the doctor gains control rather than the patient having control.

• Analyze

The theory that I am testing is that more cesareans take place than have to.

3. I never really thought twice about people having cesareans until I started to watch a lot of birthing shows on TV. I have always assumed that women had them because something was wrong with the baby or there was some type of a medical emergency that required the baby to be removed from the mother. After watching so many shows that ended in a c-section and being pregnant myself I began to wonder why there was such an increase in c-sections. Some of the women on the shows didn't appear to need them yet still received them. Now more than ever I believe that something is up after I went in for an elective inducement (for medical reasons) and the doctor kept pressuring me to rupture my water, even though I had only dilated one centimeter over the course of 24 hrs, and the chance of me having a successful vaginal delivery became very slim. After that experience and doing a little research asking the nurses at the hospital and a looking on the web, my prejudice's seem to be justified.