Increasing number of cesarean deliveries
New Delhi: With the development of modern medical facilities in India, a steady decline is being observed in the number of children born through natural delivery. On the contrary, there is an alarming increase in the cases of cesarean operations (C-sections). This change raises many important questions not only for the medical field, but also for the health of future generations.
Cesarean delivery rates in states
Recent health survey data shows that the rate of cesarean delivery has increased significantly in private hospitals in states like Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and Telangana. In these states, 90%, 87.7% and 84% of children were born through caesarean section respectively. Similarly, 66% of deliveries in Andhra Pradesh, 81.4% in Assam and 76.8% in Odisha have taken place through C-section.
growth in the last two decades
If we look at the data of the last few years, this growth has been extremely rapid. In the year 2005-06, only 8.5% children were born by cesarean, which increased to 17.2% in 2015-16. After this, in 2019-21, this figure reached 21.5% and now more than a quarter of the total deliveries (27.2%) have come under C-section.
fear of labor pain
The main psychological reason for this change is the extreme fear among women of labor pain during normal delivery. Pregnant women often hear about this pain from experienced women in their family or from relatives, which weakens their morale and they start opting for cesarean.
security concerns
Apart from the pain, family members are also worried about the safety of the newborn baby. They put pressure on doctors to operate to avoid any untoward incident during delivery. Along with this, there is also a facility to set time and date in C-section, due to which people have started giving priority to it.
Health experts believe that the method of delivery should not be based only on personal preference or fear. If there is a real threat to the life of the mother or baby, a cesarean may be a safer option. But, it is not advisable to resort to this procedure just to avoid pain and proper medical advice should be given priority.
