Every third baby is born by caesarean section

Every third baby is born by caesarean section.

(18.08.2010) The evaluation of the insurance data by the KKH alliance revealed that in Germany about every third child is born by caesarean section.

In a nationwide comparison, the Saarland is at the top of the statistics with about 37 percent, closely followed by Lower Saxony, where about 36 percent of births by caesarean section, according to the results of the KKH alliance. Caesarean sections in Saxony-Anhalt (26 percent) and Saxony (24 percent) had the lowest share of births.

One reason for the increase in caesarean sections could be the rising number of high-risk pregnancies, as among women over the age of 40, the number of pregnancies has massively increased, the experts said. 41 percent more pregnancies were recorded among women between the ages of 40 and 41 than in 2004. More and more women are voluntarily opting for a caesarean section as they fear complications from natural birth. Because the safety requirements for childbirth have continued to increase, another cause for the increased number of cesarean sections has to be found here. Statistically, caesarean sections and normal births are about equally risky today, but it is clearly the tendency to see women prefering caesarean section despite the lack of medical necessity.

The number of caesarean sections does not increase because they are easier to plan or economically advantageous in the hospital workflow, explained chief physician Dr. med. Dietmar Seeger from the Marienhospital in Vechta on demand against the Oldenburgische Volkszeitung. A spokesman for the AOK, however, argues that, in particular from the doctors' point of view, economic reasons for a caesarean section can certainly speak. Because with uncomplicated course of the caesarean section brings about 500, - € more income than the normal birth. However, according to all experts, the most important aspect of the increase in cesarean births is the growing proportion of high-risk pregnancies, which include all cases of over-40s pregnant women. Thus, the caesarean section in the late-gestation is about 50 percent. „Due to the increased number of high-risk pregnancies, caesarean sections are being carried out more and more frequently“, explains the head of the KKH Allianz Service Center in Giessen, Harry Konrad. „Retinaries bring additional risks more often than young women. For this reason, a caesarean section may be more appropriate“, Konrad continues. Other factors that can cause a birth by caesarean section, z. B. multiple births, transverse positions of the child but also strong overweight.

That's why Dr. Dietmar Seeger discuss any possible childbirth worries with the attending physician or midwife in order to work out a solution that should not necessarily be the caesarean section. Because even if this is a routine intervention today, he can „also cause painful complications such as a wound healing disorder or permanent pelvic pain due to adhesions.“, Seeger told the Oldenburgische Volkszeitung.

Anyway, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the intervention is medically justifiable at every seventh birth and because of the potential problems the criticism has been growing for years. Thus, the abdominal incision carries the risk of infection and vascular occlusion, reduces the prospect of re-pregnancy and greatly increases the risk of problems in future births. And for the child, the natural birth benefits: z. B. the lungs can get used to the new circumstances better because the fluid is pressed out of the airways in the narrow birth canal. Also, a variety of studies show that a caesarean section makes children more susceptible to allergies and asthma. The psychologist Petra Kolip from the University of Bielefeld also emphasized to the newspaper „New Germany“, that even for the mothers a spontaneous delivery mentally is extremely important. Many of them complain after a caesarean section that they have not made the natural birth, according to Kolip. (Fp)

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