Global cesarean section rates almost double since the turn of the century

Globally, the cesarean section rate has almost doubled since 2000, with wide geographical variations based on economic prosperity. The rate is unprecedently high, reaching almost 60% in some parts of Latin America and as low as 5% in southern Africa. The intervention is often overused unnecessarily in some parts of the world and denied to mothers in the area where it is needed the most. The linear increases in rates make it highly unlikely that it will be reversed soon.

The considerable variation in C-section rates indicates that the increase is not backed by scientific evidence, as evident by a whopping 6·2 million unnecessary caesareans performed each year, half of which are done in Brazil and China.

Lancet launched a three-part series on optimizing the cesarean section rates at the World Congress of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) on Oct 18. Simultaneously, the World Health Organization (WHO) also published guidelines on October 11 to reduce the incidence of unnecessary cesarean sections. 

The WHO guidance is unique because it includes the first ever non-clinical interventions to decrease the rising cesarean rates. The guidance consists of 3 sets of separate recommendations targeted at women, healthcare professionals, and health organization and systems.

Those addressed at women, stress the importance of health education to allay fear of childbirth and misconceptions. The WHO guidance states, comprehensive health education, including tailored information and support about childbirth fear, pain relief, and the advantages and disadvantages of cesarean sections, should be provided to all women.

Providers guidance is crucial in a sense it includes a mandatory second opinion for cesarean section indication, audit and timely feedback in good resource settings to bring down the cesarean rates. Another significant recommendation is the equal remuneration for the vaginal birth and cesarean deliveries.

The guidance also acknowledges other barriers towards practicing evidence-based medicines such as cultural beliefs, litigations, increased surgical skills of younger providers with decreasing confidence in conducting difficult vaginal births.

As the part of the Lancet series, the editorial by Wiklund and colleagues highlights the importance of investing in midwives and midwives-led care in bringing down the global cesarean section rate. Trained midwives can provide continuous and watchful support during labor, creating an atmosphere of trust that may calm the patients resulting in more natural births.

The series further analyzed the significant trends of cesarean section in Brazil and China. Both are emerging economies with the highest cesarean section rates seen in wealthier, educated women in private clinics as compared to less well-educated women (54.4% of births versus 19.4%). Wealthier women are 6 times more likely to have surgical delivery as compared to women from a low socioeconomic background.

FIGO also issued a position paper on how to curb the recent cesarean section epidemic. Gerard Visser, MD, from the University Medical Centre, Utrecht, the Netherlands, and chair of FIGO's Committee on Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health, and colleagues note, “Worldwide there is an alarming increase in C-section rates. The medical profession on its own cannot reverse this trend.

Drivers for the increasing C-section rates can vary between countries and include a loss of medical skills to confidently and competently attend a (potentially tricky) vaginal delivery, as well as medico-legal issues."

In the position paper, FIGO calls upon governmental bodies, UN partners, professional organizations, women's groups, and other stakeholders to join hands to bring down the global cesarean section rates.

The six recommendations by FIGO includes:

• Educating the women about benefits and harm of operative delivery
• Matching the rates of surgical and vaginal deliveries, especially in private practice
• Making mandatory for hospitals to publish their Cesarean section rates
• Ensuring that all hospitals adopt a uniform classification system for CS
• Reinvesting the money saved from lower cesarean section to improve the infrastructure
• Increasing access to skilled care, fetal monitoring and assisted births in low-income, rural areas

The authors further note that the only aspect that has consistently resulted in a significant reduction in CS rates has been an altered reimbursement model for doctors and hospitals that favor vaginal delivery. This has been shown in Portugal following wide dissemination of information on the increased risks of CS, as well as in governmental hospitals in Iran and in a large hospital setting in Shanghai.

WHO recommendations non-clinical interventions to reduce unnecessary caesarean sections

Lancet series: Optimising caesarean section use

Global epidemiology of use of and disparities in caesarean sections

Short-term and long-term effects of caesarean section on the health of women and children

Interventions to reduce unnecessary caesarean sections in healthy women and babies

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