77pc C-sections unnecessary
More babies are born in the country through C-sections done unnecessarily on affluent mothers while destitute women who desperately need the procedure do not have access to it, according to Save the Children.
Last year 8,60,000 C-section procedures were carried out -- a 51 percent increase from the previous year. Seventy-seven percent of the operations were medically unnecessary. Parents paid USD 483 million in out-of-pocket expenses for these unnecessary C-sections, which gets down to an average cost of USD 612 per case.
While these operations could be avoided, 3 lakh women who desperately need C-section every year do not have access to it, according to latest findings highlighting the pace at which the problem is growing.
Between 2004 and 2016 the C-section rate increased from 4 to 31 percent. But the increasing figures have not “corresponded with a matching reduction in maternal deaths as it should,” Save the Children said in a press release issued yesterday.
“Doctors and medical facilities are financially incentivised to deliver babies surgically rather than naturally, and face few repercussions if they provide misleading or incorrect advice,” said Ishtiaq Mannan, deputy country director of Save the Children in Bangladesh and an expert in newborn and maternal health.
Unnecessary C-sections put both mothers and babies at needless risk, increasing the likelihood of infection, excessive bleeding, organ damage and blood clots. They also subject mothers to a significantly longer recovery time.
The surgeries also take away the benefits of a natural birth, which “enables newborns to receive a dose of good bacteria that’s believed to boost their immune system when they travel through the birth canal, allows a mother and baby to have physical contact earlier, and facilitates breastfeeding to begin sooner.”
Save the Children calls for better regulation of the health industry, more checks and balances on doctors who carry out the procedure and greater funding for vital maternal health services.
At the same time, it has emphasised the need for addressing a severe shortage of accredited midwives who not only support natural child birth but also reduce the burden faced by busy doctors.
Across the country there are only 2,500 midwives, barely a tenth of the recommended figure.
“It’s important that all women, regardless of their income, location or status in society, have access to the right information and services and can make informed decisions on how they choose to give birth. Increasing the number of midwives in Bangladesh is a big part of this. And if C-section is medically required, all women must be able to have it, not just those who can afford it,” Mannan said.
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