C-section deliveries rise, pvt sector leading the trend
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, February 14
The rising trend of Caesarean section deliveries in India continues unabated, with the private health sector leading the load.
The latest government data collated by the government’s Health Management Information System (HMIS), real time data generator for 2.17 lakh health facilities in 747 districts, reveals that 23.3 per cent of all institutional deliveries in the country in 2021-22 were C-sections. This is much higher than mandated.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that the percentage of Caesarean deliveries should not exceed 10 to 15 per cent in any nation. The C-section graph in India has been rising consistently.
The HMIS data shows that the percentage of C-sections to total institutional deliveries nationally rose from 20.5 in 2019-20 and 21.5 in 2020-21 to 23.3 in 2021-22.
The highest C-sections as a percentage of total institutional deliveries — 54.09 per cent — was reported from Telangana in 2021-22 followed by Jammu and Kashmir (48.97 per cent), Lakshadweep (47.29 per cent), Tamil Nadu (46.94 per cent) and Goa (46.57 per cent).
Nationally, 38.1 per cent of all institutional deliveries in private hospitals were C-sections in 2021-22 as against 35.95 per cent a year earlier, indicating rising trends.
In contrast, 15.48 per cent of all deliveries in government hospitals were caesarean last year as compared to 13.96 per cent a year before that, signalling a rise here too.
J&K reported the highest proportion of C-sections — 91.74 per cent — to total deliveries in private hospitals, nationally, in 2021-22. In 2020-21, this proportion was 89.43 per cent in J&K.
Caesarean section is a globally recognised maternal healthcare indicator and, when indicated medically, it is a live-saving procedure. However, when performed without appropriate indications, it can add risk to both mother and baby. Unnecessary C-sections also pull resources away from other services in an overloaded health system.
States and UTs in the region, barring Haryana (21.34 per cent), reported a C-section rate higher than the national average of 23.3 per cent in 2021-22: Himachal Pradesh (26.91 per cent); Punjab (43.42 pc); Chandigarh (36.56 pc).
