DAMMAM — Gynecologists and obstetricians are witnessing an increase in Cesarean deliveries, up by 67 percent in 2015, compared to the year before, which also saw an increase by 45 percent.
Doctors attributed the growing rates in recent years to a “lack of movement,” by mothers, and said that numbers in private hospitals are more than double that in governmental hospitals.
Makkah ranked first in the Kingdom, followed by Al-Qurayyat and then the Eastern Province.
The number of births in Ministry of Health hospitals reached over 262,000, with 73 percent natural births and 27 percent are cesarean deliveries.
Head of the maternity department in at one public hospital, Dr. Ahmed Marzouk, said: “Some believe that it is a choice for doctors to perform a C-section. That was true until two years ago to avoid the potential risk of complications or difficult situations, especially when the infant is at risk of being exposed to deficiency so the doctor will resort to an operation.”
However, Marzouk pointed to official reports from public hospitals issued in 2015 showing that C-sections are now often needed because of the position of the infant in the womb and that a lack of physical activity and movement by the mothers was one reason why this would happen.
“Some women don’t realize the importance of exercising since the beginning of the pregnancy," he said. “And some doctors are convinced that pregnant women don’t move a lot because of the weather and unavailability of suitable spaces to walk. A C-sections is no longer associated with a woman’s choice. What’s noted is that the majority of embryos assume a sitting position and that reduces the chance for natural birth by 90 percent.”
Gynecologist and Obstetrician Dr. Laila Abdul Razak said: “There is a clear difference between Cesarean births that are no longer an option for many women, but an unavoidable necessity. It’s related to the way the fetus is positioned in the womb due to the mother’s lack of physical movement.”
Abdul Razak said there was a lack of awareness among mothers that the lack of physical activity is harmful to them and their babies.
“This poses a threat that must be taken into account. Medically, we don’t recommend for the mother to undergo more than 3 or 4 Cesarean deliveries, because of the complications that might occur,” she said.
