WHO: Avoid The 'Caesarean Epidemic'

Too many women in developing as well as developed countries are being forced to undergo Caesarean births, according to 3news.

Ironically, those who really have a medical requirement for C-Sections cannot access the surgery, said WHO.

"In a lot of developing and developed countries, there is really an epidemic of caesarean sections, even when there is no medical need," said Marleen Temmerman, director of the WHO's reproductive health department.

For instance, Brazil, where some 53 percent of births are by C-section according to WHO figures, "there is a culture of 'let's go for Caesarean'," Temmerman added.

Some new rules targeting the ending of "epidemic of caesareans", and promoting natural births have been disclosed in Brazil, according to theguardian.

The health minister, Arthur Chioro, said that Caesareans in Brazil are recorded to be more than eight out of 10 births, which are handled by private health providers. They are a "public health problem," he said.

Under the requirements announced on Tuesday, health insurance companies will have to offer users data and information about the percentage of caesareans undertaken by doctors and hospitals. Not giving the statistics in 15 days will lead to hefty fines.

All over the world, for the past three to four decades, doctors suggest that C-sections should not exceed 10 and 15 percent, although the health community is trying to establish a new recommendation.

"If a country... has a rate that is below 10 percent, you can see that there are more mothers and babies dying because (there is) no access," Temmerman said.

"We see women dying" in places where they cannot undergo surgery on time, she said.

WHO's 2008 statistics show that 23 percent of births in Europe were by C-section. They went up to 35 percent in North and South America, and 24 percent in the Western Pacific.

It was only in Africa and southeast Asia, with rates of 3.8 and 8.8 percent, where Caesarean births were not an epidemic.

The WHO seems to have made a public appeal to stop the C-Sections unless they are absolutely necessary.