Why C-Section Rates Are Crazy High

The average South African woman has her first kid at 22 (according to a report by Chartmix), and up to one in three of those infants emerges not from the birth canal but from a lower-abdominal incision.

- Emily Kumler

This procedure, called a Caesarean or Csection, is now the most common operation in the country. More than 25% of babies are being born via C-section in South Africa’s public sector; those numbers may be even higher in the private sector.

Perhaps that’s why people tend to think of it as no big deal – despite the fact that it is a major op that requires a sharp knife through the belly, a slicing of the uterus and some organ rearrangement. (Actor Dax Shepard compared wife Kristen Bell’s C-section to getting ‘Completely disassembled. Your liver’s out, I think. And … definitely your intestines.’)

The operation can be life-saving if baby is facing bottom-first or mom has a condition that makes labour dangerous. But research suggests nearly half of all C-sections are medically unnecessary. ‘It’s true that C-section rates are alarmingly high,’ says Dr Lindi Murray, a gynaecologist at Lila, an ob/gyn practice in Cape Town (Lila.co.za). ‘Many private hospitals perform more Caesarean than normal births, while state hospitals and clinics maintain C-section rates of less than 40% (despite seeing more patients, and often more complicated pregnancies). Countries such as the US and the UK have taken active measures to bring down the number of C-sections by ensuring that these are performed for valid reasons only, and taking a stand that vaginal birth is the preferred route of delivery in most cases – which we agree with.’