About 1 in 5 births worldwide (21%) are delivered by cesarean section, and that number is climbing. In the United States, the rate is considerably higher: 32.5% of all births in 2025 were C-sections, meaning roughly 1 in 3 American babies arrives surgically. These numbers have risen steadily for decades and show no signs of leveling off.
The U.S. Rate Over Time
The United States has tracked C-section rates through national vital statistics for over 50 years. In the early 1970s, fewer than 6% of births were cesarean deliveries. By 1990, that figure had jumped to roughly 23%. It continued climbing through the 2000s, and in 2023 it reached 32.3%. The most recent provisional data from the CDC puts the 2025 rate at 32.5%, up slightly from 32.4% in 2024.
That steady climb reflects several overlapping changes: advances in fetal monitoring that flag potential problems earlier, a growing number of repeat cesareans (since many women who’ve had one C-section deliver subsequent babies the same way), an older average maternal age, and rising rates of conditions like obesity and gestational diabetes that can complicate vaginal delivery.
How the U.S. Compares Globally
Globally, the cesarean rate sits at about 21%, but that average masks enormous variation. Some countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have rates above 40%, driven partly by private hospital practices and cultural preferences. Parts of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, by contrast, have rates in the single digits, often because surgical care simply isn’t accessible when it’s needed.
Researchers project the global average will reach roughly 29% by 2030, which would mean more than 38 million cesarean births per year. The World Health Organization has noted that maternal and newborn deaths decrease as a country’s C-section rate rises toward 10%, but rates above that threshold don’t produce further reductions in mortality. The WHO no longer recommends a single ideal percentage for all countries, recognizing that the right rate depends on a population’s specific health profile and access to care.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in the U.S.
C-section rates aren’t evenly distributed across racial and ethnic groups. Data from 2022 to 2024 shows that Black mothers have the highest cesarean rate at 37.1%, followed by Asian and Pacific Islander mothers at 34.0%, Hispanic mothers at 31.9%, White mothers at 31.1%, and American Indian/Alaska Native mothers at 29.7%. The gap between the highest and lowest groups is more than 7 percentage points.
These disparities reflect a mix of factors: higher rates of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and other complications among Black women, differences in hospital practices, and well-documented inequities in how pain and symptoms are assessed during labor. Black women are also more likely to deliver at hospitals with higher overall C-section rates, regardless of individual medical need.
Why C-Sections Are Performed
The most common reason for a cesarean is labor that stalls or fails to progress, sometimes called prolonged labor. When contractions slow or the cervix stops dilating, a surgical delivery becomes the safest option. A prior C-section is the second most common reason, since the scar on the uterus carries a small risk of rupturing during future vaginal labor.
Other frequent indications include the baby being in a breech position (feet or buttocks first), problems with the placenta blocking the cervix, signs of fetal distress during labor (usually detected through heart rate monitoring), a prolapsed umbilical cord, and carrying multiples like twins or triplets. In many cases, the decision is made during labor rather than weeks in advance.
A small but notable share of cesareans happen by maternal request with no medical indication. That figure is estimated at about 2.5% of all U.S. births. Some women choose an elective cesarean to avoid the unpredictability of labor, to schedule the delivery around work or family logistics, or because of anxiety about vaginal birth.
Recovery After a C-Section
A cesarean is major abdominal surgery, and recovery takes meaningfully longer than after a vaginal birth. Most women stay in the hospital for two to four days. Pain at the incision site is typically most intense in the first week, and most people need pain medication for at least several days after going home. Lifting anything heavier than your baby is generally discouraged for the first few weeks.
Postpartum bleeding and discharge gradually change in color and taper off over four to six weeks. A check-in with a healthcare provider usually happens within two to three weeks, with a full postpartum exam at six to twelve weeks. Most women feel close to their baseline by six to eight weeks, though the internal healing of muscle and tissue continues longer than that. Numbness or tingling around the scar can persist for months.
Risks for the Baby
Babies born by cesarean, particularly planned cesareans performed before labor begins, face a higher chance of breathing difficulties in the first hours after birth. A large meta-analysis found that the risk of respiratory problems was about 95% higher in babies delivered by elective cesarean compared to those born vaginally. During vaginal delivery, the compression of passing through the birth canal helps squeeze fluid from the baby’s lungs, a process that doesn’t happen with a surgical birth.
Most of these breathing issues are temporary and resolve within a day or two, but they can mean a stay in the neonatal intensive care unit. The risk drops significantly when a cesarean is performed after 39 weeks of gestation, which is why elective C-sections are rarely scheduled before that point. Babies born by cesarean also have somewhat different early gut bacteria compared to vaginally delivered babies, though the long-term health significance of that difference is still being studied.