Caesarean section and perinatal mortality rates

Abstract

There have been few more dramatic changes across the whole range of medical practice than the explosive growth in caesarean section in recent times. With the incidence of caesarean section reaching 20% in the United States of America and 11% in the United Kingdom the problem can be justifiably regarded as a public health epidemic in the western world. The, extent of change is best illustrated by the United States where the incidence increased from 5% of total births in 1970 to an estimated 20% in 1980: a 4-fold increase in 10 years. In numerical terms this represents 350 000 caesarean births, up from 150 000 to 600 000 per annum¹.