A new survey of almost 1,000 hospitals suggests the practice of delivering babies early without a medical reason is dropping in popularity.
In recent years, safety advocates have targeted the so-called early elective deliveries. According to a survey released Monday by the non-profit Leapfrog Group, people are responding to their efforts.
The researchers surveyed 969 hospitals including 40 percent of those that deliver babies in the U.S. The survey found that early elective deliveries accounted for 4.6 percent of births at 37 and 38 weeks in 2013, a drop of 17 percent among those surveyed in 2010.
"It's a dramatic difference," Leapfrog CEO Leah Binder said. "We've hit a tipping point."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that while the overall rate of C-sections has not changed much in recent years, the rates at 37 and 38 weeks have dropped.
A growing amount of evidence suggests that babies born between 37 and 39 weeks gestation have a higher risk of health problems than those born at full term. A larger percentage end up in the neonatal intensive care unit and stay longer in the hospital, often because of feeding or breathing problems. Chance of death may increase due to the fact that their brain and lungs have not had the full time to develop.
Due dates can also be wrong, meaning that a baby might be less developed than thought. Accordingly, doctors say it's best to let labor begin on its own, unless there are medical problems in the mother or baby that necessitate an early birth.
Public health agencies and groups like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the March of Dimes have been working with hospitals to lower the number of early elective deliveries.
According to Edward McCabe, director of the March of Dimes, the data only comes from hospitals that volunteered to be surveyed, so it does not show how hospitals who did not volunteer are doing. Still, McCabe said that there are other signs of progress to go with the data.
"This is good news for moms and babies," he said.
Binder said that early births tend to decrease quickly once hospitals target them. She said it is crucial to require that doctors document medical reasons for early deliveries and get permission from the hospital to schedule them.
"We've seen incredible leadership in the hospital community on this," she said.
Not all hospitals, however, are committed to reducing early elective deliveries. Among those hospitals surveyed, about 29 percent still have early delivery rates that exceed the five percent target set by health groups. Some have rates higher than 30 percent.
