Globally, C-section close to double since 2000: The Lancet

Globally, C-section close to double since 2000: The Lancet

News:

1. Lancet conducted a study to analyze the trends in C-section use across 169 countries across the world.

Important Facts:

2. Global trends:

India’s case:

Reasons for c-section:

• Women marrying late and delayed pregnancies.
• Poor birth preparedness and Uncertain timing of natural labor
• Women more career oriented than earlier.
• Fear of pain and a lack of motivation to deliver normally in certain sections of the upper-middle and high-income group.
• A C-section is medically necessary when complications develop such as bleeding, high blood pressure or the baby is in an abnormal position in the womb, endangering mother or child.

5. Concerns:

• The procedure is unavailable to many women in low-income countries and overused in many middle- and high-income countries.
• The wealthiest women in middle- and high-income countries were six times more likely to have a C-section compared with the poorest women where C-section was 1.6 times more common in private facilities than public facilities.
• Six out of 10 nations do too many C-sections and a quarter perform too few, the study found.
• Wide differences exist between rich and poor, public and private sectors, and between regions.

6. While it is estimated that 10-15 percent of births medically require a C-section due to complications, most countries used C-section above the recommended level.
7. Moreover the c-section surgery is not risk-free and has been linked to difficulties with future births.
8. Way forward: In cases where complications do occur, C-sections save lives, so its accessibility should be increased in poorer regions, making them universally available, but its overuse should be regulated.