J&K ranks second in C-Section surgeries in India: Whistleblowers flag nexus between doctors, private hospitals

Srinagar: When nine-month pregnant Suraiya (name changed) visited for a fortnightly checkup at a private clinic, the doctor insisted on Cesarean Section or simply C-Section for delivery.

Worried about her health and baby, she visited a leading government maternity hospital. Doctors advised her to wait for some time so that she could have a normal delivery. A week after, she delivered a healthy baby through normal delivery.

“Had I not visited the government hospital, I would have been operated upon. I and my baby both are healthy,” said Suraiya whose baby is now five-month-old.

Suraiya is not just an isolated case. Kashmir has been witnessing a spike in births through C-section surgery.

Increasing births due to C -Section in J&K

Eight in 10 women who go to private hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir undergo a Caesarean section (C-section), reveals the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS).

Data suggests that Jammu and Kashmir is at the second spot in  C-section deliveries in India.

The states where a major proportion of women are giving birth through C-section include West Bengal (82.7%), Jammu and Kashmir (82.1%), Tamil Nadu (81.5%), Andaman and Nicobar (79.2%), and Assam (70.6%).

According to WHO, the ideal rate of C-section deliveries is between 10% and 15%.

C-sections in India have increased from 17.2% in 2014-2015 to 21.5% in 2019-2020, according to NFHS-5.  

In private hospitals, it has increased from 40.9% to 47 %.

C-section deliveries have also increased in public hospitals. From 52.1% in 2014-2015, it has increased to 61.9% in 2019-2020. However, this could partly be due to an increase in institutional deliveries in such facilities. 

In Jammu and Kashmir, which reports 92.4 percent of institutional births, the deliveries through C -section in public facilities is nearly half than in private hospitals.

As per the data, births through C-section surgery in public facilities in the union territory is 42.7%.

Other states with the surge in C-sections in public health facilities are Sikkim (30.4%), Punjab (29.9%), Goa (31.5%), Chandigarh (30.4%) Tamil Nadu (36%).

Doctors caution

Doctors have cautioned against “unnecessary” C-section surgeries in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Doctors are driven by money to perform needless surgical deliveries. There is a well-oiled nexus between private hospitals and doctors that is pushing patients into caesareans they don’t need,” Doctors Association of Kashmir president Dr. Nisar-ul-Hassan said in a press statement.

He said unnecessary cesarean section deliveries are risky to both mother and child. “For mother, C-section raises the chances of complications such as blood loss, infection or blood clots,” he said.