Are c-sections replacing 'natural' births, or are they simply becoming more common because we have the expertise? There is a difference
The research I've cited has indicated this is a genetic transfer among female-to-female births of a need for more cesareans.
"A female-to-female familial predisposition to caesarean section was observed. It could be caused by biologic inheritance, primarily working through maternal alleles and/or environmental factors. The results imply that both mechanisms could be important."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18540028/
"Large-scale epidemiological studies indeed evidence that women born by C-section are more likely to deliver by Caesarean than women born vaginally, owing primarily to genetic rather than social factors."
> "Large-scale epidemiological studies indeed evidence that women born by C-section are more likely to deliver by Caesarean than women born vaginally, owing primarily to genetic rather than social factors."
Interesting. That makes sense. I wonder if the type of research being pursued in TFA might be helpful.
In any case, I also have to wonder whether it's necessarily a bad thing. I quoted 'natural' births earlier because... what is natural? The amount of medical knowledge and technology that go into births doesn't seem very "natural" to me, and this has advanced through the ages to where we are now - where we, rightfully so, look sadly on areas where lack of such technology and knowledge result in more preventable deaths of babies, even if their methods are more "natural"
Of course, to be honest, I'm not very familiar with the pros and cons of c-sections vs natural births - particularly when the question is whether to have a child. I suppose that, given the choice between a c-section and the alternatives, most women will opt for a c-section, and as you point out, that means their daughters likely will have to as well
So what might the solution even look like, apart from exploring the aforementioned gene-editing technology - or other technology - to prevent the genetic factor of c-sections? I would hope that "don't offer c-sections" is not a serious option. "Stop having kids" is one I'd personally suggest, but that's obviously not a sane global solution either.
It's an interesting problem I'd be curious to hear more about - as I said, I'm not very familiar with this.