Caesarean sections should only be carried out when medically necessary, the World Health Organisation has warned.
The health body said the procedure should not be done out of choice because it can put women and their babies at risk of short and long-term health problems.
This is particularly a problem in the developing world where there are fewer facilities to conduct safe surgeries or treat potential complications.
Dr Marleen Temmerman, director of WHO’s department of reproductive health and research, said although studies show that the number of maternal and new-born deaths decrease when caesarean section rates rise towards 10% across a population, mortality rates do not improve when they go above 10%.
“These conclusions highlight the value of caesarean section in saving the lives of mothers and new-borns,” she said. “They also illustrate how important it is to ensure caesarean section is provided to the women in need and not just focus on achieving any specific rate.”
WHO has called for the adoption of the Robson classification as a standardised internationally accepted system to monitor and compare caesarean section across countries, citing the lack of such a system as the reason why medical professionals cannot examine the trend for the surgical procedure in greater detail.
The Robson system classifies all women admitted for delivery into one of ten groups based on such characteristics as the number of previous pregnancies, previous uterine scars, and how labour started.
“Information gathered in a standardised, uniform and reproducible way is critical for health care facilities as they seek to optimise the use of caesarean section and assess and improve the quality of care,” said Dr Temmerman.
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