Caesarean Section Birth Rate Too High

According to the Social Service Agency of Georgia, the amount of caesarean section births is far beyond the ideal rate, having reached nearly 45% in 2017.

For nearly 30 years, the international healthcare community has considered the ideal rate for caesarean sections to be between 10% and 15%. This was based on the following statement by a panel of reproductive health experts at a meeting organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1985 in Fortaleza, Brazil: “There is no justification for any region to have a rate higher than 10-15%.”

In Georgia however, this rate is exceeded by almost three times, while it averages 11 per cent in the rest of Europe.

Over the last few years, governments and clinicians have expressed concern about the rise in the numbers of caesarean section births and the potential negative consequences for maternal and infant health. Cost is also a major factor in improving equitable access to maternal and newborn care, as caesarean sections represent a significant expense for overloaded – and often weakened – health systems.

To help counter this, the Social Service Agency has limited the number of caesarean section service providers to five maternity hospitals, after having fined 17 institutions, due to the failure to fulfill contractual conditions of reducing the number of caesarean sections done.

A reduction in the number of caesarean sections in the country’s rural areas have been noted in the last year, however, this cannot be said of the country’s larger cities. As another counter, the service will only be allowed at clinics which provide 750 births or more per year.

The service has been suspended for institutions where more than 500 caesarean sections were performed over a period of 12 months, and fined 17 other institutions.

Institutions/clinics where the service is suspended:

Natury Patarkatsishvili Clinic, Golden Fleece-XXI, First Hospital, St. Ioakim and Ana Partiarchy of Georgia Medical Center and Tbilisi Ivan Bokeria Referral Hospital.

Institutions/clinics who were fined:

Gera, Chachava Clinic, Imedi, Brothers, Baiebi, David Davarashvili’s Clinic, Unimedi, Yashvili Children’s Central Hospital, Gudushauri National Medical Centre, New Maternity Centre, Leri Khonelidze Clinic, the Gldani branch of MedCapital, and the First and Second Maternity Hospitals of Kutaisi.

By Shawn Wayne