Dramatic Increase in Caesarean Sections

A new study has found an increasing trend in both elective and emergency caesarean section rates over the past 20 years that do not appear to be explained by increased risk or indication.

Researchers at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research (Perth, Australia) and other Australian institutions looked at all births in Western Australia between 1984 and 2003--more than 430,000 births--and analyzed the mode of delivery. The researchers excluded multiple and breech births.

The study found that elective caesareans rose from 6% to 13% between 1984 and 2003, and during the same time, there had been a 70% increase in the number of emergency caesareans. When the researchers included private medical insurance into the analysis, they found that women who had medical insurance were more than three times as likely to have an elective caesarean section, and 1.34 times more likely to have an emergency c-section than those who were uninsured, even though pregnancy complications and obstetric problems which may need a caesarean section are higher in uninsured women. The study was published in the May 2007 issue of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

"The degree to which maternal request accounts for the increase in caesarean sections isn't known,” said co-author obstetrician Craig Pennell, M.D., from the School of Women's and Infants' Health at the University of Western Australia (Perth, Australia). "The reasons are likely to be multifactorial and reflect a complex social process affected by clinical status, obstetric practice and training, family and social pressures, the legal system, availability of technology, women's requests and women's role models, such as celebrity elective caesarean delivery.”


Related Links:
Telethon Institute for Child Health Research
University of Western Australia