Nature BabY
[1]. In India, the rate of C-section has skyrocketed to 41% in Kerala, 58% in Tamilnadu, 51% in Haryana and 80% in some districts of Andhra Pradesh[2] (Data is only from Govt. Hospitals). 20.5 lakhs C-section deliveries in private hospitals during 2018-19 and 18.9 lakhs C-sections deliveries in public hospitals during 2018-19 which is nearly 3-4 times increase from the last decade and accounts nearly 33% of overall births[3]. Recent statistics shows India has highest rate of C-section births.
It is very clear that the rate of C-section is increasing day by day, whether it is a boon or abuse of the medical system?
Pros and cons of C-sections (excerpts from The Print Article Refer foot note 3)
C-section also considered a life-saving procedure that could be performed during pregnancy complications when a vaginal delivery seems challenging. However, C-section operation, in many instances has been labelled by some quarters as “medically unjustified.” “For the newborn, it means delayed breastfeeding, lower birth weight, respiratory morbidities, increased rate of hospitalization, lower Apgar scores and its implication in the long run,” says a study conducted by IIM, Ahmedabad.
“If not abused, C-section is a medical boon when there are complications in natural, vaginal delivery due to a variety of reasons such as abnormal positioning of child,” said Dr Subhasri B, a gynaecologist who works with a civil society group, CommonHealth, on maternal issues.
According to WHO, medical practitioners “should not undertake caesarean sections purely to meet a given target or rate, but rather focus on the needs of patients”.
It adds, “Caesarean sections can cause significant complications, disability or death, particularly in settings which lack the facilities to conduct safe surgeries or treat potential complications. Due to their increased cost, high rates of unnecessary caesarean sections can pull resources away from other services in overloaded and weak health systems.”
As per WHO guidelines, if C-sections to be undertaken on need basis, the need would have not increased drastically over the decade.
In 2018, IIM Ahmedabad conducted a study and found 9,00,000 (9 lakhs) “medically unjustified” C-sections out of 7 million (70 lakhs) child births[4]. The study was titled “Too much care? Private health care sector and surgical interventions during childbirth in India,”
For some reason, childbirth has become like a baby factory, mother (consumer) is less informed and wants “perfect” childbirth, care provider (medical institutions) wants to maximize the rate of deliveries with “perfect process”. “But that’s not nature”
On earth, every mammal delivers a baby naturally, however, we human beings due to various conditions like lifestyle, health issues, obesity etc… we have a boon of C-section to avoid any complications raised during childbirth. But, ignoring nature and abusing this boon, we have created an imbalance in the ecosystem.
Nature is not “perfect,” but it’s a “balance” in every aspect. Any exploitation will lead to disaster. We shall re-start respecting the nature and use science in conjunction and not as a replacement.
Nature Baby refers to natural childbirth, Nature baby is written from the inspiration of my wife who chose to break the status quo and said “No” to medical abuse, and she became the informed consumer and found ethical & a responsible care provider for our second child.
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