A cesarean delivery can result in a long recovery period for a mother, but there are cases in which this procedure may be medically necessary to protect the life of either the mother or the child. C-section rates in New York and throughout the country are significant, higher than the rate deemed to be ideal by the World Health Organization. WHO indicates that the ideal rate for surgical deliveries is between 10 and 15 percent, but a study published in the Journal of American Medical Association suggests that 19 percent is better. The study used information from more than 50 nations and data from numerous C-section births to arrive at this value.