In March 2006, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) convened a panel of health professionals and public representatives to evaluate the available scientific evidence relative to trends in cesarean deliveries, benefits and harms to mothers and babies with such deliveries, and the necessary research for making appropriate decisions regarding cesarean or attempted vaginal deliveries.

IHI's IMPACT Learning and Innovation Community on Improving Perinatal Care is addressing the use of operative delivery instruments as part of its overall work, and the NIH statement presents information on this aspect of perinatal care.

See the NIH website for the full-text statement:

http://consensus.nih.gov/2006/CesareanStatement_Final053106.pdf