Medical expert warns on C-sections

A SHARP rise in the number of women giving birth by caesarean section could lead to an increased risk of complications during birth resulting in a hysterectomy, a leading professor of obstetrics and gynaecology has warned.

Research by Professor Michael Turner, of the UCD centre for human reproduction at the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital (CWIUH), states that obstetricians must take a long-term view when considering caesarean section delivery in the absence of medical need.

There has been a 400% increase in the number of women delivering by C-section over the last 40 years. A study of deliveries from the three Dublin maternity hospitals over four decades between 1966 and 2005 showed that C-section rates rose from 6% to 19%. In 2007, the national C-section rate had risen to 26.2%.