Mothers should only go Caesarian sections when needed because overuse of the procedure could cause a rise in disabilities and mortality, the World Health Organization warned. The medical community's ideal rate of usage for C-sections has changed, the WHO stated.
While Caesarian sections are one of the most common medical procedures, the WHO stated that medical experts have found no evidence that mortality rates decrease when the rate of Caesarian births rises about 10 percent. Mortality rates decrease as the use of the procedures approaches 10 percent, but the latest findings tempers the previous target of 10 percent to 15 percent usage of Caesarian sections in child birth.
While the WHO's conclusions emphasize the utility of Caesarian section in saving lives, it also underscores the importance of using the procedure only when it's necessary, states Marleen Temmerman, director of the WHO's Department of Reproductive Health and Research and a medical doctor.
"They also illustrate how important it is to ensure a Caesarian section is provided to the women in need -- and to not just focus on achieving any specific rate," says Temmerman.
Overuse of the Caesarian section can also divert hospital resources away from other areas, which can especially strain small organizations and those hardly equipped to perform such a procedure, the WHO warned.
If the WHO's latest conclusions on Caesarian sections seems too general or too vague, it's because there has been an international standard established for reporting use of the procedures.
"Information gathered in a standardized, uniform and reproducible way is critical for health care facilities as they seek to optimize the use of Caesarian section and assess and improve the quality of care," the physician says. "We urge the health-care community and decision-makers to reflect on these conclusions and put them into practice at the earliest opportunity."
While the WHO warns against overuse of the Caesarian section, the Centers for Disease Control recently stated that some pregnant women were consuming pain killers when they shouldn't be doing so. But many of the women who are using opioids while pregnant are doing so unwittingly, according to the CDC Director Tom Frieden.
"Many women of reproductive age are taking these medicines and may not know they are pregnant and therefore may be unknowingly exposing their unborn child," said Frieden.
The CDC launched a new initiative, entitled "Treating for Two: Safer Medication Use in Pregnancy," to educate women and health-care providers about how prescription medications affect pregnant bodies.
