| Publication: Times of India Mumbai; | Date: Jan 14, 2010; | Section: Times Nation; | Page: 14 |
C-sec deliveries rising globally
WHO Study Finds 60% Cases Done For Money, Experts Say They Harm Women
Kounteya Sinha | TNN
New Delhi: Birth by Caesarean sections, many of them unnecessary, have started to increase, globally. Nearly one in every two births in China are delivered by C-section, while the rate is around two in five in Thailand and Vietnam and nearly one in five in India.
According to World Health Organisation, which reviewed 110,000 births from nine countries in Asia during 2007-2008, 27% births were delivered by C-section. A similar survey in Latin America found that 35% of pregnant women were delivered by C-section.
Shockingly, more than 60% of the hospitals where these C-sections took place did it for financial gains.
Experts say this boom in unnecessary C-section surgeries is jeopardizing women�s health. �Fear of labour makes these women opt for a C-section. The morbidity and mortality rates are much higher in such cases,� they say.
Unnecessary C-sections are not only costlier but more dangerous. In India, a Caesarean delivery costs an average of Rs 20,000 more than normal. Some estimates say C-sections have risen from 5% to almost 65% in some private hospitals in India. A study published in the Lancet on Wednesday said women who undergo a Caesarean without requiring it were 10 times more likely to be admitted to ICU those who gave birth normally. Where labour had already started, women who had a surgical delivery despite not requiring one were 67 times more likely to be admitted to ICU than those who had a natural birth.
The Asian survey looked at around 24,000 pregnant Indian women in Gujarat, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. Deliveries were examined in 122 public and private hospitals across Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. China recorded the highest number of C-sections (46%) followed by Vietnam and Thailand with 36% and 34%, respectively. The lowest rates were in Cambodia, with 15% and India with 18%.