Reasons for rise in caesarean births | Letter

Simply blaming women ignores a range of clinical and societal factors that contribute to the increase in medical intervention during birth, says Dr Debbie Garrod

The rise in the rate of medically assisted births in the UK, particularly caesareans, is laid firmly at the feet of women for being older, larger and having more complex medical problems (Report, 11 September). This ignores a range of clinical and societal factors that contribute. Maternal factors play a part, but so does the rise in defensive clinical practice, the loss of midwives’ and obstetricians’ skills and confidence in supporting physiological birth, and the proliferation of misinformation and scare stories on social media that increase parental anxiety.

All these factors have led us to the current crisis, where more than 50% of babies are born with surgical intervention, with no concomitant improvement in maternal or perinatal mortality and with unknown consequences for the health and wellbeing of future generations.
Dr Debbie Garrod
Midwife and antenatal educator, Abingdon, Oxfordshire