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There is a global increase of women opting to have elective caesarean sections for the delivery of their children, and according to a local expert, this pattern is being repeated in SA.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says in a survey conducted in 50 countries – excluding SA – C-section rates more than doubled between 2005 and 2014, increasing from 20% to 52%.
And Dr Sibongile Mandondo, an obstetric and gynaecological specialist for the provincial department of health, said 70 out of 100 women in the private sector in SA are also choosing to deliver their children this way.
Mandondo said a number of factors had to be considered when analysing the rise of women opting for elective C-sections.
“In the Eastern Cape, there are few private hospitals relative to the number of people with medical aids. Some women look at their pregnancies and realise there are more complications if the delivery is not planned because they may be far from the private hospital of their choice.
“In a population of 100 women, about 70 of them in the private hospitals go for C-sections. In the public sector it is about 25,” she said.
Mandondo said some women choose C-sections out of pure convenience although this is not the case in the public sector.
“C-sections are not financially viable in the public sector because women have to stay longer in hospital.
South African Medical Association (Sama) provincial president Dr Mzu Nodikida said medical practitioners assess patients depending on the merits of their individual cases.
“Sama is of the view that the choice of delivery is a clinical decision, decided by the medical practitioner given the clinical conditions of individual patients. It would be unethical for any medical practitioner to advise a patient to go for a C-section without medical reasons.”