Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(by Wolfy Becker)

The quota of performed cesarean sections is increasing in Latin America. But experts from the ‘World Health Organization’ (WHO) warn that this increase puts mothers and children at risk in poorer countries.

In the past it was a privilege of the royalty, today the ‘sectio caesarea’ is widespread among common people, at least in industrial countries. In Europe almost three out of ten babies are born by performing a cesarean – in the last 10 years the quota rose by 10 to a current 27 percent. The number of cesareans is also increasing in developing countries – a cause for concern among health experts.

A new World Health Organization-led study involving 120 hospitals and more than 97,000 deliveries in Latin America found that hospitals with the highest rates of caesareans had higher rates of maternal death and severe illness and had higher numbers of babies who died or were admitted to intensive care for seven days or more after birth. The implementation of antibiotics increases as well. Despite years of pressure on doctors to perform fewer, not more, C-sections, the rate is climbing.

According to the Lancet article, rates of caesarean deliveries have jumped from about five per cent in developed countries in the early 1970s to more than 50 per cent in some regions of the world. The World Health Organization says any rate higher than 15 per cent is inappropriate.
"A higher rate of cesarean births can threaten mothers and babies", José Villar and his team of WHO researchers wrote. "More c-sections don’t necessarily mean better medical care – to the contrary.”

Besides the higher risks, the researchers are also complaining about the unnecessary waste of money. Every c-section costs about 274 Euros more than a natural birth. Deliveries by operation is mostly recommended when the mother’s pelvis is too tight for a vaginal birth, the unborn child or the mother are at risk, or when multiples are expected.

Improved surgical and anesthetic techniques, doctors' fears of lawsuits should a vaginal birth go wrong and patient demand are driving the rise in C-sections. The operation is also thought to reduce the risk of urinary incontinence and "sexual dissatisfaction, (thus) increasing its appeal," writes Dr. Jose Villar.
The new study is believed to be the largest of its kind exploring the association between C-sections and bad outcomes for mothers and babies. Scientists looked at all women admitted for a delivery over three months to 120 private and public hospitals in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru.

The authors also broach the issue of mothers modeling on celebrities. For example, slogans like "too posh to push" or "save your love channel" are well-established phrases in Anglo-Saxon countries. Prominent mothers like the ex- "Spice Girls" Gerry Halliwell and Victoria Beckham are perfect examples for a trendy, pelvis-sparing c-section. Beckham even had her birth date pre-defined to avoid an interference with her husbands busy football game schedule.
In poorer countries, however, these examples are rather counterproductive. In reality, hospitals with a high c-section quota should undergo a rigorous inspection of their care quality, so that the alleged medical advancement doesn’t turn into the opposite.



tags : Peru health medicine childbirth c-section cesarean LatinAmerica science

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