The use of caesarean sections to deliver babies has reached epidemic proportions, say experts, with the procedure growing in use at an “alarming” rate.
While caesarean sections can be a crucial intervention for the safety of the mother and child, for example if the baby is showing distress or if the mother is bleeding before birth, experts say the procedure would account for about 10-15% of births if only used when medically necessary.
But in a new series of studies and commentaries published in the Lancet, a team of researchers have revealed that in many countries caesarean sections are rising rapidly, accounting for more than 21% of births globally in 2015, up from just over 12% at the turn of the millennium.
In the UK the figure stands at just over 26%, but in some countries more than half of births involve the procedure: in the Dominican Republic over 58% of babies are delivered this way, while in Egypt the figure is 63% when looking just at births in institutional settings.
Experts say more needs to done to raise awareness among women, their families and medical professionals of the potential risks of caesarean sections when not needed for medical reasons.
“For the mother, for her future pregnancy there is an increased risk of preterm birth, ruptured uterus and the placenta embedding in the wrong part of the uterus, which means she is at risk of postpartum haemorrhage and needing a hysterectomy,” said Jane Sandall, professor of social science and women’s health at King’s College London and a co-author of one of the studies.
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
