Childbirth easier with rock 'n' roll

A new program at the Cedars-Sinai medical center has been designed to help mothers move labor along and reduce cesarian sections.

With Mother’s day right around the corner, patient Sara Richards hopes to deliver her third child smoothly, especially after needing a C-section for her second child.

“I don’t want to have open surgery again if it can be avoided,” Richards said.

The Rock and Roll program at the center is helping moms deliver naturally, and women are feeling much more comfortable than before.

Nurses get women moving, including those who have had an epidural. They change positions about every 30 minutes.

“All of those moves have through research been proven to assist in the 'delivery' of the babies,” said Marle Shelton, a nurse and manager at the center.

Cesarian section rates have skyrocketed in recent years.

The center’s Dr. Sarah Kilpatrick says “in the United States, the C-section rate has gone up from below 20 percent to now about 32.5 percent.”

Multiple C-sections can make it harder to get pregnant again and increase the risk of stillbirth.

“She does the rocking, I do the rolling,” said Kilpatrick.

Richards successfully avoided another C-section despite 18 hours of labor – and a very big baby boy.

“This is almost a 10-pound baby – 9 pounds, 15 ounces. So yeah, I think it was a very big success,” said Richards.

With three children to care for, she is glad she doesn’t need to recover from surgery this time around.