Birth Statistics

At the Midwives of New Jersey, we believe that providing our clients with diligent care, evidence-based options and education, and spending the time to create relationships built on trust equates to overall better birth outcomes. You will find that our birth statistics are much lower than national or state averages for maternal and newborn health.

2021 Birth Statistics

Total Births – 397

Stat	Number	%
Total Cesarean	53	13
Total Vaginal	344	87
Waterbirth	124	36
*Episiotomy Total	2	0.6
Epidural Total	84	18
OOH Births (Home & Birth Center)	135	39
OOH Transfers	29	13.8
Labor Induction	71	18
**Attempted VBAC	33	n/a
VBAC Success	22	89.4

In 2021, Midwives of New Jersey had 397 total births. We had 53 total cesareans giving a total cesarean rate of 13%. 124 (36%) of the 337 clients who planned to deliver vaginally labored in the tub. 2 (.6%) of our clients required an episiotomy. 84 (18%) of our patients who planned to deliver vaginally required an epidural for pain management. 135 (39%) of all births occurred out of home. 29 (13.8%) of the 135 clients attempting an out-of-hospital birth were transferred to the hospital.  Our rate of labor induction is 18%. When we induce labor, we are careful to go slowly, using finesse rather than muscle to coax a baby into the world vaginally. Of the 33 clients who attempted labor after cesarean, 22 (89.4%) had a successful VBAC.

Common Obstetric terms defined

*Episiotomy – a procedure to open the vagina when a baby’s head is delivering. Provider uses scissors to cut the tissue between the vagina and anus. Episiotomy is performed to hasten delivery when perineum is not stretching quickly enough. This should be reserved for emergent situations only but is sometimes the result of an impatient provider.  The evidence does NOT support episiotomy in almost any circumstance.

A common misconception is that it is better to cut than to tear. This simply is not true. The jaggedness of a tear actually heals into to stronger tissues for future births than episiotomy which almost always tears at least a little at a person’s following births. Episiotomy is the single biggest cause of severe perineal lacerations.

**VBAC  the acronym for Vaginal Birth After Cesarean. After a cesarean birth, a patient has a decision to make – should she just have another cesarean or try to have a vaginal birth. The concern about attempting a vaginal birth is scar dehiscence (rupture). If the scar opens and tears, there can be an emergency where the mother has excessive bleeding and where the baby can be expelled from the uterus. The concern about repeating cesarean births is the exponential increase in complications that come with every successive surgery.

After a woman has a cesarean, she will never be low risk again. She must determine the risk she is willing to take to decide whether to try for a VBAC or not