In today's edition of "you can't make this stuff up...," in an apparent move to honor Cesarean Awareness Month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping health bill that includes, among other problematic key points, a definition of an advanced birth center. In the bill, an advanced birth center is a place where "low-risk Cesarean deliveries" are permitted.
A few key points we'd like to highlight:
- First we'll ask a simple question that has no satisfactory answer: Why do legislators insist on continuing to step way out of their lane to intentionally create more problems?
- Maternity care deserts would benefit from full support for midwives to practice in the ways midwives practice best. Midwives are comprehensive healthcare providers who collaborate with at least one physician when necessary.
- Of course maternity care deserts would benefit from the addition of safe hospitals. However we are very against the misuse of the phrase "birth center" in this bill. Birth centers can either be freestanding, meaning they operate independently from a hospital system except when emergent care is necessary. Or they could be part of a hospital system in which case it would simply be a specialized birthing suite, in many cases for marketing purposes. (That's another blog post.)
- There is no such thing as a low-risk Cesarean delivery. There are planned Cesarean births. There are emergent Cesarean births, meaning the team is moving quickly into the operating room after a change of plans has occurred. And lastly, there are emergency Cesareans where seconds matter to save someone's life and general anesthesia would very likely be used (because it's faster).
- Nothing about this bill would serve to improve outcomes. For a full explanation of the bill, read this article.