“Too many doctors and hospitals are overusing high-tech procedures” is the conclusion of “Evidence-Based Maternity Care: What It Is and What It Can Achieve”, co-authored by Carol Sakala and Maureen P. Corry of the nonprofit Childbirth Connection. The authors analyzed hundreds of the most recent studies and systematic reviews of maternity care. The 70-page report was issued collaboratively by Childbirth Connection and the Reforming States Group (a voluntary association of state-level health policymakers) and Milbank Memorial Fund, and released on October 8, 2008.

“The report found that the current style of maternity care is so procedure-intensive that 6 of the 15 most common hospital procedures used in the entire U.S. are related to childbirth. Although most childbearing women in this country are healthy and at low risk for childbirth complications, national surveys reveal that essentially all women who give birth in U.S. hospitals have high rates of use of complex interventions, with risks of adverse events.”

Read more at: http://www.ConsumerReports.org/health/medical-conditions-treatments/pregnancy-childbirth/maternity-care/overview/maternity-care.htm