Health minister blames doctors’ greed for rising C-section births in Bangladesh

Health Minister Mohammed Nasim has faulted ‘greedy’ doctors for the increasing trend of surgical deliveries in Bangladesh.

Speaking at a seminar on Wednesday, he said doctors do caesarian sections for “saving their time and earning more money”.

 

“It’s a fashion now,” he said, “this cannot go on”. He said he believed that “once giving birth through C-section means you have to do it for next childbirths.”

 

The minister made the comment amid expert criticism that unnecessary caesarian sections are being performed in Bangladesh.

 

But gynaecologists and obstetricians have consistently denied any unnecessary use of the procedure.

 

The latest Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) found that 23 percent of facility deliveries were caesarian, which was well above the WHO’s recommended range.

 

According to international recommendations, caesarian sections are medically indicated in only 10 percent to 15 percent of deliveries.

 

The survey also found that 80 percent of all deliveries in private hospitals were caesarean, giving rise to the question that whether all were medically indicated in those profit-driven private facilities.

 

The minister was speaking at a dissemination seminar on a new assessment that showed that about 83 percent government facilities in rural Bangladesh can offer 24/7 normal delivery and essential care services with “little inputs”.

 

 The government’s family planning services (DGFP) conducted this first-of-its-kind exercise through the USAID’s MaMoni Health Systems Strengthening (MaMoni HSS) project to determine the readiness of their facilities.