CHENNAI: Despite a drop in pregnancy-related complications, researchers at IIT Madras have found an uptick in the number of women undergoing caesarean section (C-section) during deliveries across India between 2016 and 2021.
Prof VR Muraleedharan of Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras, pointed out that though the non-poor are likely to opt for C-section in the whole of the country, the case of Tamil Nadu was different. “In TN, the poor were more likely to undergo C-section in private hospitals,” he said.
“This requires further analysis and corrective action in case some of these are clinically unnecessary,” they said.
According to the study, published in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, prevalence of C-section across India increased from 17.2% to 21.5% in the five years leading up to 2021. In the private sector, these numbers stand at 43.1% (2016) and 49.7% (2021), meaning that nearly one in two deliveries in the private sector is a C-section, said a statement issued by IIT Madras.
The study was undertaken by researchers from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Madras. Significantly, the proportion of those with pregnancy complications decreased from 42.2% to 39.5%, implying that the increased rate of C-section delivery was largely influenced by non-clinical factors, the study said. Women’s own preferences, their socio-economic level and education, and risk-averse physicians practising conservative medicine could be some of these non-clinical factors.
While C-section is a lifesaving procedure for high-risk pregnancies, the researchers in their report said clinical factors were not necessarily the reason for surgical deliveries particularly in Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh.