TOPLINE:

Fewer than 16% of US counties between 2016 and 2021 were home to a hospital offering labor after cesarean (LAC) services or the planned attempt to deliver vaginally by a person who previously had a cesarean.

METHODOLOGY:

While recent clinical guidelines encourage hospitals and clinicians to enable patients to undergo a vaginal birth even after a prior cesarean, researchers set out to find out the availability of these services using the proxy of labor after cesarean (LAC) delivery, which is associated with a decreased maternal morbidity and the risk of complications in future pregnancies.

In this cross-sectional study, researchers examined hospitals that offered LAC services and the county in which the facility was located.

This was determined by looking at county-level rates

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