BIRTHFIT Podcast Episode 257: What Happens When Hospitals Choose Mothers Over Money

Rochester General Hospital in New York just proved what we've known all along: when you remove financial incentives for C-sections, shift to midwife-led care, and give women TIME to labor, outcomes transform—their C-section rate for low-risk, first-time mothers dropped from 40% to 25% between 2019 and 2024, one of the steepest declines reported nationally. They stopped paying physicians more for surgery, trained staff in non-surgical support techniques, allowed evidence-based labor timelines instead of declaring "failure to progress" prematurely, and educated patients on normal labor—proving that when the system aligns with physiology instead of profit, the female body does what it was designed to do. But here's what we need to say out loud: 25% is still higher than it should be, and the missing piece is supporting women from conception forward with the BIRTHFIT 7 Pillars—sun, sleep, strength, nourishment, mindset, community, and spirit—so they show up to labor with regulated nervous systems, unshakable confidence, and bodies primed for physiologic birth. Rochester General didn't change overnight; it took leadership from physicians, midwives, and administrators who said "we can do better," and your community needs that same leadership—not from a hospital or policy change, but from YOU. This is validation for everything the mother-led birth movement has been saying for decades: when leadership aligns with what the female body needs, the system can change—now imagine what happens when every pregnant woman in your community has access to a BIRTHFIT-trained coach or practitioner.

 

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