There is no simple answer, though the majority of women can deliver vaginally and safely. Every pregnancy is unique, changing from minute to minute as the labor progresses. Many doctors who specialize in caring for women in labor and newborns say it can help to understand what is happening to you, especially if you are likely to have complications. Sometimes the nursery in the hospital is safer than the nursery in the mother. The monitor assesses fetal well-being and assures us and the mom that the baby is doing well.
Doctors also turn to cesarean for other reasons.
Certain other conditions also may come into play, such as preeclampsia, which is when a woman in labor has high blood pressure. Cesarean is major abdominal surgery, while a vaginal birth is associated with less mortality. Dr. Block says that babies who come through the birth canal tend to have less respiratory problems, because the compression squeezes fluid from the lungs. We see less bleeding, fewer problems with future deliveries. A cesarean section predisposes you to placenta problems with the next pregnancy.