How your pregnancy is likely to end
The national numbers, so you know the shape of the thing.
Of 3,628,934 US births in 2024:
67.6%
Ended in vaginal birth
Derived from the 32.4% cesarean rate
33.9%
Of births involved induction of labor
National vital statistics
10.41%
Were preterm, before 37 weeks
National vital statistics
Induction has risen sharply. Among single babies it went from 24.9% in 2016 to 34.5% in 2024, a 39% increase, and it rose in 49 states.
Forceps and vacuum are now uncommon. The most recent national breakdown available covers 2005 to 2013, when vacuum fell from 5.8% to 4.1% of vaginal births and forceps from 1.4% to 0.9%.
What counts as an ordinary pregnancyMost hospital deliveries in the United States carry at least one condition on the chart, and needing an intervention is not a body that failed. Part 4 gives the real rates with their real denominators. See Part 4, The perfect pregnancy.
Where this comes from:
134. Osterman MJK, Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Driscoll AK, Valenzuela CP. Births: final data for 2024. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2026;75(2):1-43.
135. Martin JA, Osterman MJK. Induction of labor increases in the United States: 2016 to 2024. NCHS Data Brief no 554. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; 2026.
136. Merriam AA, Ananth CV, Wright JD, Siddiq Z, D'Alton ME, Friedman AM. Trends in operative vaginal delivery, 2005-2013: a population-based study. BJOG. 2017;124(9):1365-1372.
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More from Before and at the start
This page is educational. It supports the conversation with your own clinicians. It is not consent to any treatment, and it cannot assess you. If you are worried about a symptom now, see urgent warning signs.