Rates of Cesarean Delivery Among Puerto Rican Women—Puerto Rico and the U.S. Mainland, 1992-2002

Abstract

Cesarean delivery has been associated with greater risks for maternal morbidity, longer hospital stays, and rehospitalization after childbirth than vaginal delivery. On the U.S. mainland (i.e., 50 states and District of Columbia), rates of total cesarean delivery and primary cesarean delivery (i.e., for women without a previous cesarean) per 100 live births decreased from 1992 to 1996 before increasing from 1996 to 2002. During 2002, among all U.S. mainland births (approximately 4 million), 26% were by cesarean delivery; among all mainland births to women without a previous cesarean delivery, 18% were by primary cesarean. Cesarean delivery rates for Puerto Rican women who delivered on the U.S. mainland were similar to those for all women on the mainland. By contrast, among all 52,747 births in Puerto Rico in 2002, 45% were by cesarean delivery; among births in Puerto Rico to women without a previous cesarean delivery, 33% were primary cesarean deliveries. In addition, during 1996-2002, annual rates of vaginal births after cesarean delivery (VBAC) (i.e., per 100 live births to women who had a previous cesarean delivery) were lower in Puerto Rico than on the U.S. mainland. To compare trends in cesarean delivery during 1992-2002 among Puerto Rican women who delivered in Puerto Rico and on the U.S. mainland, CDC and the Puerto Rico Department of Health analyzed birth certificate data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which determined that, during 1992-2002, total and primary cesarean rates were consistently higher in Puerto Rico than among Puerto Rican women on the mainland. From 1996 to 2002, total and primary cesarean rates increased for Puerto Rican women in both places of delivery, but rates increased more sharply for women in Puerto Rico than on the mainland. The results suggest that measures to reduce the number of cesarean deliveries in Puerto Rico should focus on lowering the rate of primary cesarean deliveries, especially among women at low risk for a cesarean delivery.