Delivering Via "C"

Giving birth is one of the most beautiful experiences in a woman’s life. A body nourishing and feeding another for complete 9 months until one day when the baby decides to come out, to brighten the lives of near ones. The small head that comes out of the womb and the simultaneous pain that the mother undergoes, it’s just the two worlds meet. Happiness of seeing her child ceases all the pain.

Over 21 years to 2014, the richest quintile–top 20% of the population by income​–undergoing caesarean section deliveries in India has gone up from 10% to 30%, raising the country’s average caesarean-section rates from 5% to 18% over the same period, according to a recent analysis of national health data. The rate of caesarean section among the poor has stayed the same over this period: 5%. A study done by Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) reveals that as many as nine lakh Caesarean section (C-section) deliveries out of 70 lakh were practised in private hospitals which were not necessary but carried out for financial incentives.

A caesarean section may be necessary when vaginal delivery poses a risk to the mother or baby. However, caesarean sections can cause significant complications, disability or death, particularly in settings that lack the facilities to conduct safe surgeries or treat potential complications, the WHO warned in this 2015.

Explanation of the C-section ‘epidemic’ — that doctors and hospitals are greedy and unethical. The big bucks that float in with every c-section is immense and the root cause to increase greed amongst doctors. The charges for the procedure, hospital stay and anesthesia can range from about Rs5,000 in a government hospital to upwards of Rs40,000. Public discussions over unnecessary C-sections are not a recent phenomenon in India. The doctors easily trick the pregnant women by scaring them with word “complication”. The parents of the yet to born child are frightened as at that very moment it is just the health of baby and mother that matters and not money that will pour in for the operation.

Amid this financial setting, some doctors are hoping to fight that trend and bring down the number of unnecessary C-sections. But the decision is not just in the hands of a physician. From patients who want to deliver on auspicious dates, to those who just want to avoid the pain during labour. Not all doctors sit down to explain the pros and cons of the c-section to the pregnant ladies. There is also a spike in the number of patients who are obese, and those who develop gestational diabetes—two factors that can complicate pregnancy.

Along with government’s initiatives and WHO, unjustified c-section deliveries can be kept in check. We cant argue to end c-section altogether but keeping in check of c-section deliveries is surely needed.