Articles in the Brazilian popular press typically portray women as actively choosing to deliver surgically. Doctors often affirm that women's demand for cesarean deliveries keeps rates high. While scholarly articles usually include the motives of both doctors and women, rarely does anyone discuss the power differences between the two.
Doctors clearly have more decisionmaking leverage in the delivery room.
Kristine Hopkins investigated the situation in Brazil. Hopkins was formerly a Population Council Bernard Berelson Postdoctoral Fellow. She is currently at the University of Texas at Austin. Significance of Caesarean Deliveries As compared to vaginal deliveries, cesarean section deliveries are associated with increased maternal death, injury, and infection. In some cases, scheduled cesarean sections can result in babies being delivered prematurely, with less than fully developed lungs.