Although the J&K administration on Thursday admitted that there has been a rise in Caesarean surgeries in the union territory, little is being done to curb the practice which continues to flourish in private hospitals of Kashmir.
The disclosure about “rising rate of C- Section” was made during a meeting chaired by Mission Director, National Health Mission, Yasin M Choudhary, to review Maternal and Child Death Surveillance besides C-Section audit in Jammu and Kashmir.
The meeting was attended online by concerned HoDs of Associated Hospitals of GMCs, Chief Medical Officers and Medical Superintendents of District Hospitals including new GMCs, Programme Management Units of Maternal Health and Child Health, National Health Mission.
“It was highlighted in the meeting that there is an increasing trend of Caesarean Section across all healthcare units of J&K which is a matter of concern as rising rate of C- Section is a major public health concern which results in risks associated with maternal and prenatal problems. It was also discussed that the rise in number of caesarean births have potential negative health consequences for both mother as well as the infant and as such there is no potential evidence to support that C-section delivery has any positive benefit for either mother or infant who do not require the procedure,” an official statement said.
While the MD NHM “stressed upon the officers to take all measures to address the issue of increasing trend of caesarean births" by carrying out “C-section audit,” the health department has done little to curb the menace in private hospitals.
In a recent statement by a doctors associate, it was revealed that 82.1 percent of babies born in private hospitals of Kashmir are delivered through C-Section procedures when the recommended ratio by the World Health Organization is merely 10 percent.
According to the association, private hospitals compel expecting mothers to undergo C-Sections as the doctors and the management of private hospitals “are motivated by money to perform needless surgical deliveries.”
“It is a mafia run by the private hospitals who grease the palms of babus to prevent any action, otherwise where will all the money come from. They force ignorant people to undergo surgical procedure for delivering their babies. Even some government doctors carry out such procedures in private hospitals,” sources said.
Despite repeated attempts, Director Health Services (Kashmir) Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Rather could not be contacted for his comment.