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For patients undergoing cesarean delivery, prophylactic use of tranexamic acid does not lead to a lower risk for a composite of maternal death or blood transfusion, according to a study. Luis D. Pacheco, M.D. and colleagues randomly assigned patients undergoing cesarean delivery at 31 hospitals to receive tranexamic acid or placebo after umbilical cord clamping (5,529 and 5,471 participants, respectively). The primary outcome was a composite of maternal death or blood transfusion by hospital discharge or seven days postpartum. The researchers found that a primary outcome event occurred in 3.6 and 4.3 percent of participants in the tranexamic acid and...

New research from Boston Medical Center suggests that hourly patient evaluation and documentation of the birthing plan in the second stage of labor decreases the second-stage of labor duration, the rate of cesarean sections, maternal blood loss, and rates of hemorrhage and transfusion. Published in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, the team identify hourly second stage documentation as a uniquely non-medical intervention performed proactively before delivery. Current interventions to reduce blood loss are typically done reactively post-delivery and there have been no proven interventions to decrease cesarean rates. Patients with hourly evaluation and documentation had a likelihood of...

Three-month-old Elayna Nigrelli has redefined what it means to be a miracle baby. She was born while her mother was technically dead. In February, Erica Nigrelli was teaching at a high school in Missouri City, Texas, when she walked into a co-worker's classroom. Nigrelli said she felt faint, placed her hands on a table to steady herself and then passed out. Three teachers immediately grabbed a defibrillator and also began performing CPR. Kids in the classroom ran out, yelling for help. Nigrelli's husband, Nathan, also a teacher, was just two doors down. He rushed into the room. "Erica was lying...

The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics released the findings of its analysis of nearly 99 percent of all birth records reported by 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Of the record 4,317,119 babies born in 2007, 1,372,844 were delivered via Cesarean section. The c-section rate rose 2 percent in 2007, to 31.8 percent, marking the 11th consecutive year of increase and another record high for the United States according to the CDC.

<p>For some women, birth has become the latest battleground for reproductive rights.</p> <p>At a growing number of hospitals, women are being forced to schedule a repeat cesarean section just because they already had one. Doctors and hospitals say they fear lawsuits if they allow a patient to attempt a vaginal birth after a C-section - called a VBAC - and something goes awry.</p>

SALT LAKE CITY - The woman charged with killing one of her twins by refusing a Caesarean section was convicted of child endangerment in Pittsburgh nearly four years ago, a newspaper reported Saturday. The 2000 conviction of Melissa Rowland stemmed from a supermarket incident in which she punched her daughter several times in the face after the toddler picked up a candy bar and began eating it, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Witnesses said Rowland screamed, "You ate the candy bar and now I can't buy my cigarettes." An Allegheny County, Pa., court sentenced Rowland to five years probation for simple...