II. Interventions & C-Sections
CDC National Vital Statistics: C-Section Rates (2025)
32.5% C-section rate. Six-fold increase since 1970.
Official cesarean delivery rates. Current: 32.5%, highest since 2013. In 1970: 5.5%. A six-fold increase in 55 years. State variation: Mississippi 38.5% to Utah 23.4%.
The CDC's National Vital Statistics System tracks every delivery method in the country through birth certificate data. The 2025 release puts the US cesarean rate at 32.5 percent, the highest level since 2013. In 1970 it was 5.5 percent.
That is roughly a six-fold increase over 55 years, which is far faster than any plausible change in the underlying biology of childbirth. State variation tells you most of what you need to know about whether 32.5 percent is medically required. Mississippi runs 38.5 percent. Utah runs 23.4 percent.
If the surgeries were being done because mothers and babies needed them, the rates would not differ by 15 percentage points between two American states with similar demographics. They differ because hospital cultures, malpractice climates, and physician training differ. Once you control for medical indication, most of the geographic variation has no clinical explanation.
32.5%
US C-section rate today
5.5%
Rate in 1970
~6x
Increase over 55 years
15 pts
Gap between Mississippi and Utah
Why it matters
The math does not work as a clinical story. The biology of birth did not change six-fold in 55 years, and Mississippi mothers are not 60 percent more in need of surgery than Utah mothers. Something else is driving the rate.
This is one finding from the research library behind How to Birth a Mother. Everything here traces back to a study, a dataset, or a systematic review.