Every year hospitals submit specific measurements to Leapfrog Group to see how the they are doing, and this year’s aren’t looking great. We like to check in on our local statistics to see how we are doing, and you can read last year’s local statistics if you’d like. In this table, the numbers in bold are from 2021 & those in parenthesis are from 2018.
| Hospital | NSTV Cesarean Rate | Early Elective Deliveries | Episiotomies |
| The Women’s Hospital Newburgh, IN | 27% (22.9%) | 5.2% (1.7%) | 11.9% (14.8%) |
| Ascension St. Vincent Evansville | 23.5% (27.2%) | 0% (.8%) | 5.6%(6.8%) |
| Owensboro Health | declined to respond (29.7%) | declined to respond (1.4%) | declined to respond (12.7% ) |
| Memorial Hospital & Healthcare Center Jasper, IN | 17.5% (12.8%) | 4.5% (0.0%) | 7.4% (9.8%) |
| Daviess Community Hospital Washington, IN | 15.7% (15.2%) | 2.9% (1.9%) | 6.9% (13.1%) |
| Good Samaritan Hospital Vincennes, IN | 24.2% [20.7%]* | 3.8% [4.0%]* | 5.2% [14.2%]* |
| Deaconess Henderson Hospital | 27.6% (26.1%) | 2.5% (2.4%) | 2.6% (2.4%) |
Let’s take a moment to congratulate Ascension St. Vincent’s in Evansville for their success in reducing their overall NSTV cesarean section rate. Yes, there is room for improvement, but they are also the only local hospital that reported data and reduced their cesarean rate, as well as early elective deliveries AND episiotomies. Way to go StV!
Why does it matter?
The NSTV rate tells us the likelihood of a 1st time parent walking into a hospital with one head-down baby at 38+weeks gestation and walking out after having had major abdominal surgery to deliver that baby. This statistic doesn’t count surgical births for breech delivery or repeat cesareans or even first cesarean surgeries for your 3rd baby. From a population standpoint, we should be aiming to get that rate to between 10-15%, and huzzah Davies Community hospital is hovering right on top of that target. These reported NSTV local statistics have all gone in the wrong direction, and that matters for birthing families.
It matters because having one cesarean section increases the risks to you with each subsequent pregnancy. Is VBAC an option for you? Maybe, but only around 20% of people who have had a previous cesarean section will even attempt a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean, and then only if they can find a provider who is actually supportive. After a cesarean, your risk of things like placental accreta, increta, and percreta increase too. Surgical birth carries risk, and according to the evidence, we are doing surgery too often.
How can we change?
Hold OBs to their own standards. Yes, I mean us as consumers, but also hospitals and insurance companies too. ACOG gave some great ideas here, California has some ideas we could bring to the Midwest here & Dr. Neel Shah has been a leader in the call to figure out how to reduce cesareans. I have also read about hospitals publishing their own data publicly and privately nudging physicians to change by keeping them informed of their own professional statistics. I promise you that physicians have access to their personal statistics, whether they access them or choose to share them publicly (or even with patients) is another story all together. There has to be that push and pull if we are going to create true lasting change.
How can you reduce your own risk?
- Choose a place to give birth with a lower NSTV cesarean section rate. I know that insurance plays a huge factor in this, so that isn’t always an option for everyone. We do know that your greatest risk of needing cesarean surgery is the location of your delivery.
- Inform yourself! Know your options & be ready for what is to come for labor and delivery. You can’t prepare for all of it, but you can at least know what to expect and how the system can sometimes set you up to fail. Know what to watch for!
- Hire a doula! Having a doula on your team reduces the likelihood of needing cesarean surgery to birth your child. No, we can’t prevent all cesareans, especially because some of them are very necessary and honestly can be beautiful and healing too. We can promise that having a doula on your team will help you ask great questions of your care team and hopefully feel like the most important person in the room with all the decision-making power. (Because really, you are!)