While the national rate of C-sections is more than 30%, non-Hispanic whites and Asians, and particularly educated non-Hispanic whites, are the least likely to have one, leading researchers to conclude that C-sections, outside of emergencies, are most associated with poor-quality medical care.39 Twenty-five years ago, the New England Journal of Medicine reported the exact opposite finding: The majority of C-sections were occurring among wealthy, white women, suggesting that high socioeconomic status rather than medical indication drove this delivery outcome.40
