Mode of delivery, including vaginal births and Cesarean births, can highlight important clinical practice patterns in perinatal health. PeriStats provides multiple indicators that can be used to assess trends in vaginal and Cesarean delivery methods. It also provides trends in vaginal deliveries to women who had a Cesarean birth (VBAC) in a prior pregnancy, primary Cesarean births, which are Cesarean births performed on women who have never had a Cesarean birth and low risk Cesarean births, when the baby is a single infant, is positioned head-first and the mother is full-term (at least 37 weeks), and has not given birth prior.
Last updated:
January 2022
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In the United States in 2021, 32.1% of live births were cesarean deliveries.
In the United States in 2021, the rate of primary cesarean deliveries was 22.3 per 100 live births to women who have not had a previous cesarean delivery, or of all live births.
In the United States in 2021, the rate of vaginal births after a previous cesarean (VBAC) was 14.2 per 100 live births to women who have had a previous cesarean delivery, or of all live births.
Notes: All race categories exclude Hispanics.
Sources: National Center for Health Statistics, final natality data. Retrieved October 1, 2023, from www.marchofdimes.org/peristats.
During 2019-2021 (average) in the United States, cesarean delivery rates were highest for black infants (36.2%), followed by Asian/Pacific Islanders (32.7%), Hispanics (31.4%), Whites (30.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Natives (29.0%).