Institutional Deliveries Increased But C-Section Remains A Concern: NSO

• 28 Jul 2020

• In India,Institutional Deliveries has increased but at the same time C-Section surgeries has also increased which is double the rate of global standards – a real concern to be addressed at the earliest.
• The above findings were the result of the latest survey on the state of India’s health conducted by the National Statistical Office in 2017-18. 

Major Highlights

1. Institutional Deliveries

• The proportion of women delivering a child in a hospital (or health care institution) has increased over the past two decades by nearly 73 percentage points in rural India and 37 percentage points in urban India.
• At least nine of every 10 pregnant women now deliver a child in a hospital and thereby avail better health care facilities.

1. C-Section

• Nearly every third woman who delivers a child in a hospital undergoes a caesarean-section or C-section surgery, which is a rate twice of what the international health care community considers ideal (The World Health Organisation considers the ideal rate for C-sections to be between 10% and 15%).
• At 28.1%, the share of women delivering through a C-section has risen by nearly 25 percentage points in two decades from as low as 3.2% in 1995-96.
• In government sector hospitals in rural India, less than 15% women give birth through surgery.
• The C-section rate in government hospitals in the urban sector is nearly double at 26%.

Role of Private Sector Hospitals

• The private sector hospitals are largely responsible for the high rate of C-sections in India.
• About 29% of institutional births in India take place in a private sector hospital, but these hospitals conduct nearly 63% of all C-sections in the country. Government hospitals conduct nearly 70% of all deliveries but only 35% of all C-sections.
• Private sector hospitals, a majority of births (54% in rural areas and 56% in urban areas) are conducted through a C-section, which is almost four times more than the ideal rate.

Worst affected States

• At 69%, Telangana has the highest overall rate of C-sections in the country, 52.8% in government hospitals, highest among all states, and 87% in private sector hospitals, second highest in the country.
• Among big states, the percentage point difference is the highest in Odisha where nearly 76% deliveries in private sector hospitals happen through a C-section compared to just 14% in government hospitals.