AdventHealth Waterman has achieved the Healthy People 2020 Maternal and Child Health goal, focused on reducing cesarean section deliveries for first-time mothers with low-risk pregnancies, according to the Florida Hospital Association. AdventHealth Waterman was among 19 hospitals honored at the association’s recent annual meeting.
“While a cesarean birth is a lifesaving procedure when vaginal delivery is no longer a safe option, there has been a rise in cesarean rates across the country without associated improvement in health outcomes for women or newborns,” Dr. Marilyn Mayne, OB/GYN at AdventHealth Waterman, says in a press release.
The rate of low-risk cesarean births in Florida is 36.8 percent, one of the highest state rates in the nation. AdventHealth Waterman’s C-section rate in 2018 was 20.9 percent, below the national goal of 23.9 percent.