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Reducing elective cesareans will reduce preventable risks, says nursing lecturer

Candace Campbell

Candace Campbell, (By: candycampbell.com)

  • December 16, 2011 5:00am

During the past 50 years, cesarean section deliveries have reached an all-time high of 31.8% of all live births, and have become the most frequently performed surgery in women in the United States.

In her new research published by Nursing for Women's Health, Candace Campbell, adjunct faculty member at Cal State East Bay, found that women can avoid major surgery and its potentially risky effects simply by refusing elective cesareans.  “Reducing the number of elective cesareans will naturally reduce the preventable maternal illnesses and physical problems — including infections, placenta implantation complications and adhesions — that can accompany such surgery,” wrote Campbell.

Campbell also noted that nurses are in a position to formulate policies, develop needed measurement tools and advocate for a better understanding of the negative effects of elective cesarean deliveries and elective repeat cesarean deliveries. One strategy for reducing elective surgeries is to set goals based on national benchmarks, for example, by increasing general maternal and newborn healthcare, providers can achieve a decrease in both re-hospitalization for mothers and infants and maternal postpartum depression and infant developmental delays.

Campbell has worked as a NICU nurse, administrator, and educator in the areas of hospital and public health for over 20 years, but is also an award-winning writer and actress. She has also written two children’s books: My Mom Is a Nurse and Good Things Come In Small Packages (I Was a Preemie). Her non-fiction book, A Primer for Parents of Preemies, will be published in 2012.

KL

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