title: The boom in unnecessary caesarean surgeries is jeopardizing women's health.
abstract: High caesarean birth rates present an issue of international public health concern. We explore the prevalence and sociodemographic maternal factors associated with cesarean-section births among 272 mothers with children under 5 years old in an urban community of central India. In this population-based, cross-sectional study, we learned that the prevalence of cesarean section was unacceptably high and significantly higher in those deliveries that were either preterm/ post-term, amongst mothers who had delivered at a private hospital, and among mothers with higher socioeconomic status. A third of the mothers reported lumbar back pain and almost 90% felt that the expenditure for cesarean sections is not reasonable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Nagpur, India. ajeet.saoji@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Saoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ajeet
authors.forename: Kasturwar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nandkishore
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult