Mumbai: A Right To Information (RTI) query has revealed shocking details that Caesarean deliveries in private hospitals in Mumbai were more than double than those in government hospitals between 2010 and 2015 — indicating it has become big business.
The RTI was filed by OnlineRTI.com, an organisation that is supporting Mumbai-based researcher Subarna Ghosh whose recent petition on Change-org on Caesarean deliveries went viral.
Ghosh’s petition on Change.org asking for an end to the commercialisation of C-section deliveries has drawn the support of more than 140,000 citizens. She says, “The fact that private hospitals have a much higher rate of C-sections than public hospitals has a direct correlation to the fact that surgical deliveries cost so much more than normal ones in these facilities.”
The year-wise data for the number of normal and Caesarean deliveries in Mumbai was provided by the office of the Assistant Health Officer of the Public Health Department of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
The overall percentage of C-section in Mumbai has doubled from 16.7 per cent in 2010 to 32.1 per cent in 2015. Though the total number of births have only marginally fluctuated, the overall number of ‘normal deliveries’ in government and private hospitals have decreased from 80 per cent in 2010 to 63 per cent in 2015.
Ghosh, through her petition on Change.org is seeking transparency in percentage of Caesarean deliveries in hospital and nursing homes across the country.
Citing her own experience, she says, “Even though serious complications were not detected, I was cut open to deliver my baby. I wanted to have a natural birth but had to undergo a C-section as it was presented to be more ‘scientific, modern and risk-free.’ I was misled, manipulated, confused and my choice was overridden. For many of us, the right to informed-refusal or consent during childbirth is hardly an option either due to lack of awareness or the high-handed attitude of doctors.”
She says it was a painful and depressing recovery but when she looked into the issue, it was an alarming one. Recent studies show that C-sections lead to a higher risk of post-partum depression and lower breastfeeding rate in women and diseases like obesity and diabetes in children, she says. “Despite its adverse effect on maternal and child health, hospitals and doctors are indiscriminately conducting C-sections to make more money.
Ghosh’s petition seeks transparency in percentage of Caesarean deliveries in hospitals and nursing homes across the country.
Last week, she submitted her petition to Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi. The Minister has written to the Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare to urgently look into commercialisation of Caesarean deliveries and regulate it.
