Guernsey Press

C-section was more common than a natural birth in 2023

More babies were born by C-section than by vaginal birth in 2023.

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The rate of C-section in the UK has risen from 13% a decade ago and 23% in 2022. But more than half of the C-section deliveries were recorded as being elective. (33896431)

It is believed that this was the first time the figures have crossed over, largely driven by concerns about avoiding potential complications of a natural birth.

Last year, 208 babies were delivered via C-section, compared to 197 delivered vaginally, which included 54 using instruments.

Of the C-section births, 122 were classed as ‘emergency’, meaning they were unplanned, while there were 86 elective C-sections.

The figures have seen a rapid about-turn in recent years.

‘It’s a disturbing trend but it follows national trends,’ said doula and antenatal and postnatal educator Anita Davies, from Nurturing Birth & Beyond Guernsey.

‘High induction rates in Guernsey can lead to more C-sections.

Doula and antenatal and postnatal educator Anita Davies. (33892408)

‘There is no home birth provision over here which gives people little choice, it’s hospital or nothing, and at the hospital you do things on their terms.’

Home births in Guernsey were paused in June 2021 due to Covid, although none had actually been carried out since March 2020 due to the pandemic.

Health & Social Care announced in March 2022 that it would not be restarting midwife-supported home births as it was a strain on resources, and resources would be based at the hospital.

One in four babies born in NHS hospitals in England last year were delivered by caesarean section, according to official figures.

The gradual increase in the number of caesarean births over the past decade is due to a growing number of complex pregnancies and births, caused by factors including rising obesity rates and women waiting until they are older to have children.

The proportion of spontaneous deliveries that do not involve drugs or other medical interventions has steadily declined in the last 10 years.

‘Over the past decade, there has been a gradual national increase in the number of caesareans,’ said Dr Ranee Thakar, the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

‘A major factor of this is the growing number of complex births. We are seeing national rising rates of obesity and people choosing to have children at a later stage in their life, both of which can increase the chance of complications.’

The rate of C-section in the UK has risen from 13% a decade ago and 23% in 2022. But more than half of the C-section deliveries were recorded as being elective.

Emergency caesareans rose 10% but were still half the level of planned C-section rates in the UK.

In recent years national targets to limit the number of caesarean sections have largely been scrapped.