Chennai. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology IIT Madras have found a sharp increase in the number of cesarean section (C-section) deliveries across the country between 2016 and 2021. The study was conducted by researchers from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Madras. These include Varshini Neeti Mohan and Dr. P.Shirisha, Research Scholar, Dr. Girija Vaidyanathan and Professor VRMuraleedharan. Cesarean section delivery is a surgical procedure in which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother’s abdomen. It is life saving for mother and child if it is necessary to do so according to medical science. However, if a C-section is not necessary, it can have many adverse health consequences. This is an economic burden and also puts a strain on public health resources. VR Muraleedharan, Professor of Humanities, IIT Madras, explained the importance of these findings in detail, saying that the biggest reason for children being born through C-section was whether the birthplace of the children was a government or private hospital. This is a major revelation, meaning that the reason for surgery was not ‘clinical’. Across India and Chhattisgarh, non-poor sections were more likely to choose a C-section, while the case of Tamil Nadu was shocking where women from poor sections were more likely to have a C-section in private hospitals. Across India, C-section cases increased from 17.2 percent to 21.5 percent in the last five years to 2021. For private sector hospitals, these figures are 43.1 percent (2016) and 49.7 percent (2021), which means that one in two babies in private sector hospitals was born through C-section.
Reasons for increase in C-sections
There could be many reasons for this increase. The researchers observed that more educated women in urban areas were more likely to have babies by C-section, indicating that the practice of C-section has increased due to reasons such as women becoming more self-reliant and having access to better healthcare.
Women who were overweight and aged 35-49 years were twice as likely to undergo cesarean delivery as women who were underweight and aged 15-24 years. The proportion of overweight women giving birth this way increased from 3 per cent to 18.7 per cent, while for women aged 35-49 the proportion dropped slightly from 11.1 per cent to 10.9 per cent.
C-section delivery increased four times in private hospitals
Women were four times more likely to have a C-section in private sector hospitals across India over the study period between 2016-2021. In Chhattisgarh, women were ten times more likely to have a C-section delivery in private hospitals, while in Tamil Nadu the likelihood was three times higher. Researchers put forward the fact that this could be due to lack of basic facilities in government hospitals. The high proportion of poor women undergoing C-section in private sector hospitals in Tamil Nadu is worrying. The issue is whether doing so is clinically necessary? There is a need to do more analysis and improvement on this.