APP: According to a review of recent state health statistics, the rate of Caesarean-section births at Kimball is the lowest in New Jersey.?

The low rate is due to a combination of factors, including an Orthodox Jewish population, which prefers natural birthing, and the hospital’s commitment to midwifery, a skilled craft that traditionally reduces the rate of C-sections.

Doctors at the hospital noted that Caesarean birth � delivery of a baby by means of an incision in the abdomen and the uterus � is a necessary tool for some women with pregnancy complications. However, they encouraged natural births whenever possible and advised against the use of C-sections as a common procedure.

“That first single Caesarean is not a risky procedure,” said Dr. Eric Lehnes, chairman of Kimball’s obstetrics and gynecology department. “But it increases the woman’s risk for every pregnancy after that.”

The heightened risks for second pregnancies include problems with the placenta, damage to organs and trouble with scar tissue.

Kimball’s low C-section rates � 17.8 percent of the births in 2004, compared to 35.4 percent statewide � drew the attention of state officials.

Gov. Corzine declared April 2006 as Caesarean Awareness Month in New Jersey, a watershed moment that natural birthing advocates took advantage of. The International Cesarean Awareness Network and Doulas of New Jersey developed the Doris Haire Award Recognizing Excellence to recognize Garden State hospitals reducing the number of Caesarean births.

Haire is the founder of the American Foundation for Maternal and Child Health and a leader in the push to reduce Caesareans. Kimball got the first award in her name.

“I hope the rest of the country catches the spirit of what you have done here,” Stacey Gregg of the Cesarean Awareness Network’s Morris chapter said at the awards ceremony last week. “We need to make it happen. And you’re the ones who are going to lead the way.”

Gregg’s group fervently preaches the benefits of natural birth and the dangers associated with Caesarean births.

Dr. Bruce Feinberg is one of those who listens. An obstetrician and gynecologist on Kimball’s staff, Feinberg works with women � many from the Orthodox Jewish community � who want natural births.

He said the hospital’s low C-section rates are attributable to the team approach taken to pregnancy. Midwives, doctors, nurses and prenatal specialists all work together to preserve the opportunity for a natural birth for as long as possible.

“Labor is not necessarily laying in bed, get your epidural (anesthesia), huff and puff a few times and then the baby comes,” Feinberg said. “It’s a dynamic process.”