Metro

Given a wide birth

A rapidly growing number of Big Apple moms are delivering their babies by Caesarean sections — with convenience and doctors’ fear of malpractice lawsuits fueling the dangerous trend, according to a new study by the nonprofit group Choices in Childbirth.

“Most hospitals allow a woman to walk in and schedule a C-section because she doesn’t want the pain of labor or because she wants the ease of scheduling the birth,” said Dr. Mitchell Maiman, head of Ob/Gyn at Staten Island University Hospital.

Stay-at-home mom Rachael Welz, 29, is scheduled to deliver her second child by C-section on Feb. 2.

“I gave myself a limit,” Welz explained of her decision. “I am going to wait until the day after my due date, and if I don’t naturally go into labor, I’m going to have a C-section.”

The bigger factor boosting C-section, however, is doctors’ pushing the surgery on their patients for fear of malpractice lawsuits, according to critics.

“If complications arise during birth, doctors are often sued if they did not perform a C-section,” said Dr. Victor Klein, of North Shore University Hospital. “The practitioners are concerned about having a bad outcome.

“. . . People in labor have the potential of lawsuits if things don’t go smoothly.”

Doctors have more control over a C-section and can deliver a baby with more speed in a life-threatening situation, experts say. If complications arise during a natural birth, doctors can be sued for not performing surgery to speed up the baby’s birth.

Caesarean-section births are up 30 percent citywide since 2000.