Family-Centered Cesarean Birth at the Bassett Birthing Center

During her pregnancy, Kari Rutherford learned her birthing options would be limited. For medical reasons, a cesarean section would be required instead of a vaginal birth. Cesarean section, otherwise known as a C-Section, is a surgical procedure in which a baby is delivered through incisions made in the pregnant patient's abdomen and uterus.

As a certified nurse midwife at the Bassett Birthing Center in Cooperstown, where she would be delivering her baby, Rutherford knew what this would mean.

"During some of the Cesarean births I've scrubbed in on, the baby would go into a device called a warmer almost immediately after delivery. Perhaps the father may get to hold the baby, but the mother didn't see the baby until it was all over, and that's not the same experience a mother who delivered vaginally receives," said Rutherford.

The Bassett Birthing Center at Bassett Medical Center has long been committed to providing exceptional care to every birthing family. Building on that tradition, the center's caregivers are recommitting themselves to family-centered practices during Cesarean births. This initiative is designed to ensure a patient who delivers by Cesarean section can experience the same meaningful, personalized, and memorable birth experience that all families deserve.

Whenever medically appropriate, the team at the Bassett Birthing Center is enhancing opportunities for parents to participate more fully in the birth experience. Family-centered options can include immediate skin-to-skin contact in the operating room, early family bonding while maintaining the highest standards of safety for both mother and baby, and newly purchased drapes with a panel that can be lowered so that the patient who is delivering the baby can see their infant through a clear panel immediately after delivery.

"At the Bassett Birthing Center, we believe every family deserves a special birth experience, regardless of how their baby enters the world. This initiative reflects our commitment to combining outstanding clinical care with compassion, dignity, and family-centered practices that help create lasting memories during one of life's most important moments," said Stephanie Lehenbauer, BSN, RN, CLC, CPS, Manager of the Bassett Birthing Center at Bassett Medical Center.

For Rutherford, this approach made a difference when she delivered baby Natalie Jean on August 10, with her husband, Josh, by her side.

"We were able to use a drape that had a clear option, so as Natalie was being born the doctor was able to put her right up center, so we got to see her through the drape. The pediatric team quickly made sure she was okay and then within a few minutes she was brought over to me to do skin-to-skin. She was right on my chest for the rest of the C-section," said Rutherford. "I think it's really important to be able to have that bonding experience that everyone talks about after a vaginal delivery."

C-section is the most common major surgery performed in the United States. About a third of all pregnant patients in the U.S. require this intervention for their safety or the safety of their baby. Some C-sections are planned in advance while others may be performed if complications arise while a patient is in labor. In 2025, 27% of all babies born at the Bassett Birthing Center were delivered via C-section.

The effort to ensure Cesarean births at the Bassett Birthing Center remain as family-centered as possible is only the latest development at the center meant to provide the best care to growing families. Earlier this year, the Bassett Birthing Center launched a postpartum identification wristband initiative aimed at promoting maternal health in the weeks following delivery.

Learn more about Obstetrics and Maternity Care at the Bassett Birthing Center by visiting Bassett.org/BirthingCenter.