Releases & Statements

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
July 31, 2008
Contact: Sarah Krauss
(212) 669-4193; (917) 541-0936
Release # 030 – 2008

PA Gotbaum: Rising C-Section Rates Mean Women Need Better Access to Maternity Info
Gotbaum Applauds State for Increasing Online Access to Maternity Info; Calls on the City to Update Website with Crucial Birthing Stats

Link to NYC Hospital Maternity-Related

Procedures and Practices Statistics

Letter to Commissioner Frieden [pdf]

MANHATTAN – Public Advocate Gotbaum today applauded the New York State Department of Health (DOH) for improving online access to vital maternity information following a letter she sent to the State Commissioner in January of 2008. The state’s new online portal provides statistics about hospital birthing procedures, including the number of C-sections, epidurals and episiotomies, and was produced at the Public Advocate’s request in order to help women make informed birthing decisions. The information is available at http://www.nyhealth.gov/statistics/facilities/hospital/maternity/.

Following the State DOH’s actions, Gotbaum wrote a letter urging the DOHMH to also make this information available through its website. After issuing two reports that exposed the difficulty for women trying to obtain mandated maternity information from hospitals, last May Gotbaum introduced a bill requiring the city to create an online database of maternity information.
New York City C-section rates have been sky-high in recent years, reaching almost 45% at certain hospitals. Leading medical agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health have all called on the medical community to reduce the C-section rate to 15% or less.

Public Advocate Gotbaum said, “Easier access to maternity information will encourage informed discussions between expecting mothers and their providers. With growing concern from health policy experts about rising C-section rates, I am proud to see the State Department of Health increasing online access to maternity information, and proud of the work my office did to make this happen. The city DOHMH should now do everything possible to ensure women know this information is available, and make it clear how to find it online.”

Over the past three years, Public Advocate Gotbaum has released a series of reports highlighting the lack of access to information about birthing procedures and rates. In 2005 and 2006, her reports found that none of the city hospitals distributed the information required by the State Maternity Information Act. In August of 2007, after several rounds of calls by the Office of the Public Advocate, all 44 city hospitals had provided the mandated informational pamphlets to her office.

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