Fewer C-sections When Low-Risk Deliveries Handled by Midwives

Study provides first step in comparing midwife and obstetrician care in hospital setting

After analyzing more than 23,000 deliveries, researchers found that midwife births handled had a 30 percent lower C-section rate. ESB Professional/Shutterstock

Low-risk pregnant women who deliver in a hospital and receive care from midwives have fewer interventions and fewer cesarean sections than similar women who receive care from obstetricians, a study in the United States has found.

After analyzing more than 23,000 deliveries in 11 northwestern hospitals by women with no known medical complications or risk factors, researchers found that for births handled by a midwife, the C-section rate was 30 percent lower among first-time mothers and 40 percent lower among those who had previously given birth, compared to when women labored under the care of an OB-GYN.