Women need chance to avoid 2nd C-section

Associated Press
updated 2:30 p.m. MT, Wed., March. 10, 2010

Panel: Many hospital policies deny patients choice

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

WASHINGTON - Too many pregnant women who want to avoid a repeat cesarean delivery are being denied the chance, concludes a government panel that urged doctors to rethink litigation-spurred policies that have swung the pendulum back toward the days of "once a C-section, always a C-section."

Fifteen years ago, nearly 3 in 10 women who had a first C-section were able to deliver their next baby vaginally, a trend called VBAC for "vaginal birth after cesarean."