Technoglitch
Core Member
The need for caesarean births in a country should ideally not exceed 10-15%, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Anything higher suggests that either women are opting for a controlled birth or that a profiteering healthcare system is pushing women into caesareans. The past decade has seen India cross that WHO threshold for caesareans at an overall level, and leave it way behind in the case of births at private hospitals across several states and districts.
THE OVERALL PICTURE
The share of caesarean deliveries in institutional births in India—a surgery that costs two to five times a normal delivery—has doubled in the past decade. Even in public hospitals, 19 states or Union territories (UTs) have crossed the 15% threshold. But their incidence is much higher in private hospitals: the rate of caesareans in private hospitals is nearly thrice that in public hospitals.
And, of the 318 districts where private establishments had at least a 10% share in total deliveries, four-fifths were above the 15% mark and one-fourth above 50% in the private space.
The alarming increase in caesarean births in India - Livemint
Anything higher suggests that either women are opting for a controlled birth or that a profiteering healthcare system is pushing women into caesareans. The past decade has seen India cross that WHO threshold for caesareans at an overall level, and leave it way behind in the case of births at private hospitals across several states and districts.
THE OVERALL PICTURE
The share of caesarean deliveries in institutional births in India—a surgery that costs two to five times a normal delivery—has doubled in the past decade. Even in public hospitals, 19 states or Union territories (UTs) have crossed the 15% threshold. But their incidence is much higher in private hospitals: the rate of caesareans in private hospitals is nearly thrice that in public hospitals.
And, of the 318 districts where private establishments had at least a 10% share in total deliveries, four-fifths were above the 15% mark and one-fourth above 50% in the private space.
The alarming increase in caesarean births in India - Livemint
