When you look at pictures of pregnancy, Black women, plus-size women, queer families and older folks giving birth are not the norm. This is one of the first things that usually happens when we talk to families that hire us as their doula- we reassure them that they’re not as unusual as they think.
It’s incredibly frustrating how many people are made to feel “weird” or like some sort of problem during their pregnancy.
We’re here to tell you that you’re not. And so, we’ve compiled the statistics about birth to prove it!
(Keep in mind that it takes a few years for these statistics to to be compiled, so it’s not a perfect, all-knowing list.)
How many babies are born to older mothers?
According to the Pew Research Center in 2018, American women have been waiting later to give birth. And the CDC found that more women gave birth at “advanced maternal age” from 2017-2018- birth rates rose for women ages 35-39, and 40-44. Rates for women 45-49 remained unchanged in those years. And there were 959 births to women aged 50 and over in 2018. So no, you are not too old.
How many plus-size women give birth?
According to the National Vital Statistics Report in 2016, 25.6% of women who became pregnant were considered overweight before pregnancy (BMI is 25.0–29.9), and 24.8% were obese (BMI is greater than 29.9) before becoming pregnant. It is increasingly common to conceive and give birth at a larger size.
How many babies are born to LGBTQIA+ couples?
Data on this is difficult to count, because of discrimination, blended families, and census forms that do not allow for a variety of family structures. But what we do know is that according to a census fact sheet, 2017 between 2 million and 3.7 million children under age 18 had an LGBTQ parent, and about 200,000 children were being raised by a “same-sex” couple (the language used in the fact sheet).
While many children were conceived in a “different-sex” relationship more families are gaining access to assisted reproductive technology and surrogacy over time.
Additionally, babies enter their families in a many ways. Queer-identified couples are four times more likely to adopt and six times more likely to foster children.
How long does labor take?
This is a big question, in childbirth classes, and as we’re making birth plans with doula clients. According to the NIH, labor takes longer than for previous generations. The first stage of labor (the time before pushing) increased by 2.6 hours for first-time mothers. For women who had previously given birth, this early stage of labor took two hours longer in recent years than for women in the 1960s. So it’s best to be patient.
How common are cesareans?
According to the CDC, in 2018, the cesarean delivery rate decreased slightly (31.9% down from 32.0% in 2017). Cesarean delivery continued to remain higher among older women compared with younger mothers; women aged 40 and over (48.0%) were more than twice as likely to deliver by cesarean as women under age 20 (19.8%).
Along racial lines, the cesarean delivery rate decreased for non-Hispanic white (30.9% to 30.8%) and Hispanic (31.8% to 31.6%) women from 2017 to 2018; rates for non-Hispanic black (36.1% in 2018) women were essentially unchanged.
Virginia is ranked 17th in the nation for c-section births, and Maryland is ranked 12th.
How common are episiotomies?
In the United States, the overall rate of episiotomies has dropped from 17.3% to 11.6% during the period from 2006-2013.
How many people take a birth class?
In 2012, 59 percent of first-time mothers took a childbirth education class of some kind. At that time, 97 percent of all mothers used the Internet as a primary source. A majority- up to 60 percent- consider pregnancy and childbirth websites to be “very important sources”.
How many people use midwives for their births?
According to The Atlantic, in 1989, midwives were the lead care providers at just 3 percent of births in the U.S (this is the earliest year where we have this data available). That number was on the rise- as of 2013 that number was close to 9 percent. We believe that the number of families choosing midwives in hospital or at out of hospital births has increased.
How many people use doulas for their births?
According to Evidence Based Birth, as of 2012, 6% of people surveyed used a labor doula (Declerq et al., 2013), which was up from 3% in a 2006 national survey (Declerq et al., 2007). We suspect based on our own experience that this number has grown tremendously in nearly a decade.
How common is breastfeeding?
In 2015, according to the Breastfeeding Report Card, of the approximately 4 million babies born in the US, most (83.2 percent) started out breastfeeding. It is also very common not to continue breastfeeding exclusively. Nearly half (46.9 percent) were exclusively breastfeeding at 3 months. While nearly 6 in 10 (57.6 percent) infants are still breastfeeding at 6 months of age, only 1 in 4 are breastfeeding exclusively. Only one-third (35.9 percent) of infants were breastfeeding at 12 months. So it’s common to begin breastfeeding, and also common to supplement with formula. (Which we don’t have data on pumping, we know that is common too.)
How common is postpartum depression?
Mood and anxiety disorders are incredibly common after birth. While we’re careful not to call it “normal” (because we want more for you) a majority- as many as 50 to 75%- of new mothers experience the “baby blues” after delivery, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Up to 15% of these women will develop a more severe and longer-lasting postpartum depression after delivery. Thankfully, only one in 1,000 women develop the more serious condition called postpartum psychosis. We absolutely recommend planning ahead for your well-being after birth.
How common is maternal mortality?
It is not at all unreasonable to be concerned about maternal mortality. In 2018, the maternal mortality rate for non- Hispanic Black women was 2.5 times the rate for non-Hispanic white and 3.1 times the rate for Hispanic women in the US. It is believed that most maternal deaths in the US are preventable.
So, what are you to make of all of these statistics about pregnancy, birth and postpartum?
We acknowledge that some of them are pretty bleak. We don’t encourage you to let stats be the only thing that guides you during pregnancy and postpartum.
Our hope is to reassure you that your concerns about some things are justified, and you should take yourself seriously. And for other things, we hope that you’ll see that what you’re going through is much more common than you think!
Do statistics about birth even matter?
Yes and no. Some of the statistics about birth, (or the ones that providers learned back in med school) drive their decisions and recommendations. But that’s not the only thing that decides what happens to you. It’s your birth, and your baby.
Remember: no numbers or statistics about birth tell your individual birth story.
Our belief is that statistics and evidence are a starting point for conversations with your support system and your provider (whether it’s a midwife or doctor.)
We also recommend stepping away from google (though we’re glad it led you to us!) But before you close the laptop, we have two ideas:
- Take a big deep breath in, drop your shoulders and release.
- If you’re wanting something more than statistics to help you make decisions about your pregnancy and beyond, check out our course, Attain, or reach out and talk to us!
