Dramatic Rise of Cesarean Deliveries in India from 2016 to 2021

From a starting point of 17.2 percent in 2016, the prevalence of Cesarean sections across India surged to 21.5 percent by 2021, marking a notable escalation in this mode of childbirth over the five-year period, stated study, published in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. ()

While C-Sec is a lifesaving procedure for high-risk pregnancies, the researchers said that “clinical factors were not necessarily the reason for surgical deliveries,” particularly in Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh.

When not strictly necessary, a C-sec is known to increase the risk of maternal infection, uterine hemorrhage, infant respiratory distress, and hypoglycemia, affecting both the mother and the child. Further, the chances of C-sec delivery were found to be four times higher if the woman gave birth in a private hospital as compared to a public hospital.

Private Sector C-Sections in India Surge

In 2016, 43.1 percent of women gave birth via C-Sec in the private sector. The number spiked to 49.7 percent in 2021, meaning that nearly one in two deliveries in the private sector is a C-section. In Chhattisgarh, women had a 10-times higher chance of delivering by C-section in a private hospital while in Tamil Nadu, they had a three-times higher chance.

“Across India and Chhattisgarh, the non-poor were more likely to opt for C-sections, while in Tamil Nadu, the case was surprisingly different, as the poor were more likely to have C-sections in private hospitals,” said Prof. V R Muraleedharan, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras, in a statement.

The team attributed the rise in C-sec deliveries to women’s preferences, their socio-economic level, and education.

“There is an alarmingly high proportion of poor women undergoing C-sections in the private sector in Tamil Nadu. This requires further analysis and corrective action in case some of these are clinically unnecessary,” the researchers said. The study is based on data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted in 2015–2016 and 2019-21.

Reference:

1. Variations in the prevalence of caesarean section deliveries in India between 2016 and 2021 – an analysis of Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh – (https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-023-05928-4)

Source-IANS