Private hospitals top in caesarean births

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Although mass caesareans in government hospitals had been grabbing headlines in Kerala in the recent past, a latest data released by the directorate of health service reveals that more number of C-sections is taking place in private hospitals than in government clinics.
In 2012-13 the total number of caesarean deliveries in the state was 1,96,611, of which 1,43,094 took place in private hospitals.Malappuram tops the chart among the 14 districts with 20,472 caesareans in private hospitals, while Thiruvananthapuram tops the government hospital list with 8,814 Caesarean operations.
Interestingly, in all the 13 districts other than Thiruvananthapuram more number of caesarean births was delivered in private hospitals.
When Malappuram topped the list in private hospitals, in the same district only 4,312 births were delivered by Caesarean section in government hospitals. In Ernakulam 17,292 caesareans took place in private clinics, while 3,835 C-sections were performed in government hospitals. This was followed by Thrissur with 16,714 cases in private hospitals and just 2,543 cases in government hospitals. The number of Caesarean sections in Kannur was 14,329 and 5,534 respectively. In Wayanad 2,385 caesareans took place in private dispensaries, while the number was 1,433 in government hospitals. This low number could be attributed to lack of health care centres in the district.
Thiruvananthapuram is the only district where caesareans are taking place in equal measure in both private and government hospitals. If 8,874 C-sections were performed in private clinics here, the number was 8,814 in government hospitals during that period.
Interestingly, more number of Caesarean sections has been reported in government hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode (7,322 cases) where there are good government-run women and children hospitals in the state.
Home deliveries are still prevalent in the state with 987 such cases reported during that period. Of this 314 cases were reported in Wayanad, 199 in Malappuram and 188 in Palakkad. Medical experts do not rule out the possibility of private medical hospitals fleecing people and insisting on caesarean operations, but they admit that in many cases couples opt for caesarean operation for safety reason. "On the first look everyone will attribute it to the commercial angle. But the fact is that people insist on caesareans nowadays. People prefer it due to the safety aspect involved in this procedure. IMA itself is critically examining such rise in C-sections in the state," said Dr A V Jayakrishnan, IMA state secretary, said.
Dr N Sreedhar, additional director of health service in charge of family health, said that it is a fact that caesarean cases are reported more in private hospitals. "Since there is no monitoring mechanism we cannot find out the exact reasons behind it."
For a normal delivery a private hospital charges between Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 whereas for a caesarean it might cost between Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh. "This can be a factor but we are not sure," Sreedhar added.