Today the NCHS released a briefing on the c-section trends from 1996-2007. Here you can see that after a brief dip in the early 1990s, the c-section rate is skyrocketing – 53% increase in the national cesarean rates in these 11 years alone.
C-Section Trends from 96-07
Next we have the issue of ethnicity. There are some groups that have lower cesarean rates, though all groups climbed.
C-Section Rates by ethnicty: 1996-2007
Here you can see a state by state break down of the 1996 c-section rate and the 2007 c-section rate, with the percent change. You will also note from Jill at the Unnecesarean that Florida, in 2008, had a 38.2% c-section rate, so the numbers are higher. That is what I expect we will see when the birth data for 2008 (preliminary) comes out in April.
C-Sections by State 1996-2007