Women's organisations blame hospitals' greed

Vijayawada: Women’s organisations in AP and Telangana have been agitating over the irrational increase in C-section deliveries in the Telugu states. 

Terming this as a tool for looting more money from the families who are vulnerable, the women’s organizations have been demanding that the governments implement laws and guidelines for curtailing unnecessary surgeries. 

Similarly, the women’s organisations are demanding initiating a special mechanism to monitor and prevent unnecessary surgeries and complications during and after the surgeries. Even the AP Mahila Commission Chairperson Nannapaneni Rajakumari is of the view that a study needs to be carried out in the state over C-section deliveries, as she too received a number of complaints about the issue. She said that several women’s organizations had submitted representations over the same to the Mahila Commission. “The increase in C-Section deliveries is proving to be a new hazard for maternal health” said Rajakumari. 

This trend began some 25 years ago both in AP and Telangana regions, she observed and added that they were going to carry out a study to know why pregnant women were opting C-section deliveries. 

“Till 2010, C-section deliveries in India were around 8.5%, which was well below the 10-15% recommendation of the World Health Organisation, set as an indicator of maternal health. In India, C-section deliveries have sky-rocketed since,” Rajakumari said. 

According to popular perception, it is thought that many private hospitals carry out C-section deliveries as money involved in birth by intervention is more. 

However, doctors at private hospitals refuted this claim and said that this could have been true some 10 years back. “There is lack of awareness both among expectant mothers and the doctors who are indulging in unwarranted C-section deliveries” said city-based Dr Radha Krishna.