When Kate Tacheny and her husband were planning the birth of their newborn baby boy, they say it was important for them to deliver naturally, and to do everything they could to avoid having a cesarean section.

“I feel that it’s really a dangerous thing. It is major abdominal surgery,” said new mother Kate Tacheny. “Your body is made to give birth. It's kind of an unnecessary thing unless there is a real medical reason for it.”

But for Lisa Daniels, a c-section was unavoidable with her first child.

“We intended to have a natural birth, but after an epidural, and potossin, and back labor, and lying on your back and things not progressing the heart rate is dropping; you end up with a C-Section,” said Daniels.

According to the group Choices in Childbirth and its sister organization the New Space for Women's Health, Daniels' experience is continuing to become more and more common. They've broken the numbers down borough-by-borough, hospital-by-hospital, highlighting a 24 percent jump in c-section rates throughout the city over the past six years to an average of nearly 31 percent of all deliveries.

Manhattan saw the highest jump in cesarean births, followed by the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. Staten Island saw the lowest increase, but it has the highest overall rate of C-Sections in the city.

“We're concerned because we believe that there isn't enough information about the risks of cesarean section,” said New Space for Women's Health executive director Rebecca Benghiat.

Her group claims the higher rates could be linked to malpractice fears, lack of informed choices, and increasingly casual attitudes about surgery.

Dr. Amos Grunebaum is chief of labor and delivery at Weill Cornell. He agrees “there's no question" C-Section rates are up and should be closely watched. He also disputes undertones that doctors are putting patients at undue risk.

“We know that cesarean sections can be done and we know that vaginal deliveries are probably safer than cesarean sections for many, many women,” said Dr. Grunebaum. “However, there are certain circumstances where cesarean section is safer both for the mother and the baby. And it is important that pregnant women and their partners understand and get educated on what their child birth options are.”

At least that’s something both sides say they can agree on.