title: How do we deal with the legal risks?
abstract: Do obstetricians as a profession risk losing credibility as cesarean section rates continue to rise to once unimaginable levels? Physician practice style and fear of litigation have contributed to the escalation in abdominal delivery but so have societal expectations and patient perspectives. At the same time, some patients are so motivated for a vaginal delivery that they choose to have a home birth after cesarean section as opposed to submitting to a repeat cesarean delivery. Amid a medical-legal environment that "exerts a chilling effect on a trial of labor," what is the obstetrician to do?
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA. msocol@nmh.org
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Socol
authors.forename: Donna K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Socol
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016365:Liability, Legal / Q000191:economics; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends; D011247:Pregnancy; D012308:Risk Management; D014219:Trial of Labor; D014481:United States; D016064:Vaginal Birth after Cesarean / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends