A recent study in the United Kingdom has come out that takes a closer look at the "Too Posh to Push" phenomena. For many the idea of a truly elective (no medical indication, just preference) seems like a good way to make the rising cesarean rates appear like they are consumer driven. But it seems like that is not the case. While there do exist truly elective cesareans and repeat elective cesareans, they were not found in the study to be a majority or even a strong contender for majority within the causes for cesareans studied. Many of the cesareans in the study were the result of a medically indicated factor like breech or a repeat cesarean.
While this still does not excuse the rapidly increasing cesarean rates, it does take some of the blame off women. Because in many cases the mothers may have chosen an elective cesarean without medical indication due to lack of informed consent or fear of trauma. It seems unfair to label these women "too posh to push" if they are consenting to a cesarean based on faulty knowledge of recovery and risk to subsequent pregnancies.
And for the women who feel they are truly educated before they consent to an elective cesarean, we can only hope them a safe surgery and speedy recovery. It would be sour grapes to hope for them to have an adverse outcome simply because of birth choice.
