[jandrese]

It's not like you have to wait till the last second to decide that natural birth will be too risky. With regular sonograms it's entirely possible to note when a baby is in a risky position (feet down, umbilical wrapped around the neck for example) and decide to schedule the c-section. If the baby moves into a proper position then the c-section can be cancelled, but if not they can avoid a lot of complications. Also, there are likely lower error rates from having a well planned and orderly procedure instead of emergency ones. The mother and baby could be in much danger if she needs an emergency procedure right at shift change.

[public_defender]

I agree with a lot of this. Let me be clear that I don't think we should do anything to materially increase the need for emergency c-sections. It just seems to me that the prolific, and often early scheduling of surgery leads to a lot of unnecessary intervention.