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16/04/2015

CS Rate Targets 'Should Be Discouraged' – WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said caesarean section rate targets should be discouraged. It added that the procedure should only take place if there is a medical necessity.

Since 1985, the international health community has considered the ideal rate for caesarean sections (CS) to be between 10 and 15%. However, the procedure has become more common in developed and developing countries in the following years. Now, the WHO has issued an updated statement which says that when the rates move towards 10% across a population, the number of maternal and newborn deaths fall. However, when the rate goes above 10% there is no evidence that mortality rates improve. It added that across a population, the effects of CS rates on maternal and newborn outcomes, such as stillbirths or conditions like birth asphyxia, remain unknown.

In its statement, the WHO has said more research is needed to access the impact of caesarean section on a woman's psychological and social well-being. The procedure can cause significant complications, such as disability or death, particularly in conditions which lack the facilities to conduct safe surgeries or treat potential complications. Due to their growing cost, high rates of unnecessary caesarean sections can also pull resources away from other services in overloaded and weak health systems.

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The organisation added that medical practitioners, therefore, should not undertake the procedure purely to meet a target. Instead, they should focus on the needs of their patients. It went on to say that improvements in the understanding of CS rates has been hindered by a lack of a consistent, internationally-accepted classification system to monitor and compare rates or targets. In an attempt to address this, the World Health organisation has proposed adopting the Robson classification system. The system classifies all women admitted for delivery into one of 10 groups, based on characteristics that are easily identifiable. For example; number of previous pregnancies, whether the baby comes head first, gestational age, previous uterine scars, number of babies and how labour started. Under this process, WHO says it can facilitate the comparison and analysis of caesarean rates within and between different facilities, and across countries and regions.

Dr Marleen Temmerman, Director of WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research, including HRP, commented: "These conclusions highlight the value of caesarean section in saving the lives of mothers and newborns. They also illustrate how important it is to ensure caesarean sections are provided to the women in need – and to not just focus on achieving any specific rate."

(JP/MH)

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"The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said caesarean section rate targets should be discouraged."