{HEALTH ZONE}~ Doctor Explains Reason for High Number of Caesarean Deliveries

An Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Dr Olawale Oba , has said that low acceptance of instrumental delivery techniques often leads to the increase of caesarean delivery .

Oba, a Senior Registrar at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, made the explanation in an interview on Wednesday .

He said that caesarean section , also known as caesarean delivery, involves the use of surgery to deliver babies , which was often necessary when vaginal delivery could put the baby or mother at risk.

“ Even though , there is cap by the World Health Organisation on caesarean section rate which should be around 20 to 25 per cent but this incidence has been on the increase.

“ It is important to note that instead of doing a caesarean section , in some cases , instruments can also be used to bring out babies from the vagina .
“ But due to low acceptability of these instruments and increased rate of litigation , where people are gradually moving away from use of instrumental delivery , caesarean delivery has been a major option, “ he said .

According to him , Instrumental delivery includes the use of obstetrical forceps and vacuum extraction to bring the baby out of the vagina .

“ These are safe procedures that can be used to assist a woman who is exhausted in labour , or in a situation where the child is tired out of a prolonged labour. ’’

He said that the procedure could also be used “ in the case of rotational forceps , where it is used to realign the head of the baby in relation to the maternal pelvis for labour to continue so that delivery can be achieved.

“ But recently, pregnant women at the sight of forceps refuse and disagree for it to be used on them but rather go straight for a caesarean section , “ he said .

The doctor said that counselling should be an important aspect of ante -natal care in order to inform and prepare mothers for delivery.

“ However , skill acquisition and training are very important before the usage of these instruments and they should be handled with care and precision.

Oba said the need for training was “ because one of the adverse effects of using these instruments is trauma, either on the mother or child.

“ Health institutions and maternity clinics should ensure adequate capacity building for their staff in proper use of these instruments as well as counselling of pregnant women, ’’ he said .

Oba said that there had been an increased in the number of women who willingly request for caesarean section .
“ Due of westernisation , many women are outrightly coming out to demand caesarean section because they don’ t want to go through labour pain. ’’

“ He said such attitude had “ made this procedure one of the commonest surgeries performed worldwide due to its safety.

“ But this class of people should also be given counselling to know that pain can be removed during labour instead of going for caesarean section based on their request .

“ For the misconception about the pain in vagina delivery , there are other options that can be adopted to take out the pain during the period of labour , which is known as the epidural .

“ Only if there is a clear obstetrics indication, certainly caesarean section will have to be done on the woman for the safety of both the woman and the baby , “ he said .


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