Caesarean sections in the world have doubled in 15 years: they have gone from 12 percent in 2000 to 21 percent in 2015, when WHO recommends that this practice does not exceed 10 percent and a maximum of 15 percent of births. In the world, one in five babies are born by caesarean section, according to a report with data from 169 countries published in The Lancet magazine on the occasion of the XXII World Congress of Gynecology and Obstetrics.
In Spain the number of caesarean sections has also grown. If in the year 2000 the percentage of caesarean sections was around 20 percent, five years later, in 2015, they represented the 26.6 percent of all births.
Spain exceeds 70 percent recommended caesarean sections
In our country there are also more caesarean sections, occupying the 23rd place globally among the countries studied. In Spain, caesarean section data are 24 percent of cesarean sections in public health, and 35 percent in private.
The Valencian Community is the autonomous community with the highest rate of caesarean sections with 29.50 percent (according to data from the Ministry of Health of 2014) and the least, the Basque Country with 14 percent.
In Babies and more Euskadi: that strange autonomous community where 85% of its strange women give birth vaginallyCaesarean sections by continent
If we see the data at the continental level, North America and Oceania is where more caesarean sections are performed: 32 percent of births are this way, followed by Europe with 27 percent of births, Asia (21 percent) , Latin America and the Caribbean (15 percent) and finally Africa with 10 percent, where in many countries they do not have access to this intervention.
According to WHO, only one in 10 deliveries should end up in caesarean section, a figure that is far from the rates of caesarean section recorded in many countries.The countries where more caesarean sections are performed
The country where more babies are born by caesarean section is Dominican Republic with more than 58 percent of births (according to 2015 data), followed by Brazil (55.6 percent), Egypt (51.8), Turkey (50.4), China (47) and Mexico (45.2).
Caesarean sections in Europe
In the countries around us, Italy is the country with the most caesarean sections. There, 35 percent of births occur in this way, followed by Portugal (32.9 percent), Germany (30 percent) and in fourth place Spain with 26.6 percent.
In Babies and more In Spain 25% of C-sections are practiced, twice as recommended by the WHOWhy are there more births by caesarean section?
The figures indicate that in general there is an abuse of this practice, but there are also justified reasons that influence these interventions. One of them is that in recent years the number of multiple births has grown, considered risk pregnancies and more likely to end up in caesarean section.
They have also increased the birth of premature babies in recent years, who usually come to the world by caesarean section. In addition to other medical issues in which caesarean sections are justified as an inadequate fetal position, problems in the placenta, as well as conditions in the mother that prevent vaginal delivery.
In Babies and more Care with unjustified caesarean sections: the risks not only affect the mother, but also the baby and the health of future pregnanciesUnnecessary caesarean sections
Even so, the data indicates that many unnecessary caesarean sections are performed. In up to 15 countries, they represent more than 40 percent of births, well above the tolerable maximum of 15 percent.
Caesarean section is a life-saving practice, but that should be done only when medically justified, since It is not without risks, neither for the mother nor for the baby.
