Approximately 15% of maternal deaths worldwide could be prevented by better access to caesarean section

Fifteen percent of maternal deaths worldwide, or about 80,000 deaths during childbirth according to 2000 estimates, would be linked to the fact of not having received a caesarean, it would be justified to save the life of the mother, according to an analysis of access to caesarean section in developing countries.

Access to CS is essential for reducing maternal mortality. Carine Ronsmans of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and colleagues studied the impact of socio-economic differences in access to obstetric surgery to save lives in 42 developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and South East, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The researchers found that access to cesarean section varies between countries and within a country.

Thus, the rate of caesarean section was less than 1% to 20% of the poorest people in 20 countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia ... In six countries (Chad, Madagascar, Niger, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Mali), the cesarean rate was less than 1% to 80% of the population.

At the other extreme, in eight countries, mostly in Latin America, led by Brazil, the cesarean rate is well above the suggested 15% to 40% of the population maximum. In Brazil, the rate exceeds 65% for 20% of the richest population, and is a little more than 15% to 20% of the poorest population.

Overall, "these results undoubtedly represent a huge unmet need for obstetric surgery to save lives," the authors write.

Based on the estimate that in any population, at least 1% of pregnant women requiring caesarean section to save their lives, and completing the 1% cesarean rate in all populations where the observed rate is less than 1% The authors calculate that this unmet need has resulted in the deaths of 80,000 deliveries, 15% of the global estimate of maternal deaths in 2000.

"The inequalities presented here are also glaring that any maternal mortality and deserve immediate attention of policy makers at national and international levels," they conclude