Lifestyle changes, awareness can reduce C-sections

But factors like sedentary lifestyle, wrong dietary habits and fear of labour pain are main reasons for surge in caesarean sections in India.

We need to educate the pregnant women on how to manage the pain during childbirth, how a natural birthing would be a positive experience for the mother and child and about the availability of various methods in ‘painless’ labour. “Each childbirth is unique in its own sense and we want every ‘to be mother’ to envision a normal child birth. It is towards this that we advocate the ‘Think Normal’ line for every expectant mother and her family,” says Dr Padmapriya, Head of Department, Mother and Child care, Gleneagles Global Health City.

In India, the number of babies born through C section has doubled, with the country recording nine per cent of births through C section in 2005-06. This rose to 18 per cent in 2015 -16, although the WHO recommended level of C section is only 10 to 15 percent. (Source: The Lancet). C sections are definitely lifesaving interventions in certain conditions like abnormal position of the baby, bleeding from the placental bed, uncontrolled hypertension, etc., But nowadays C sections are being performed due to absence of spontaneous onset of labour pain, failure of induction and maternal request due to fear of labour pain and wanting auspicious time of birth, said Dr Padmapriya.

These conditions can be addressed and resolved, in order to reduce the climbing percentage of C sections that is reaching alarming epidemic levels in our country and to change the trend towards expecting and accepting normal birthing that will bring about a positive impact and experience in both the mother and child. The first point, failure of spontaneous onset of labour pain which is caused by factors such as sedentary lifestyle and wrong dietary habits can be addressed by resorting to life style modifications. These modifications must be started in the pre-pregnancy period itself. During pregnancy, the woman should be physically and mentally prepared for undergoing a normal delivery.

When induction is due to medical conditions like gestational diabetes, cholestasis of pregnancy, gestational hypertension and post-dated pregnancy, instead of C section, chances of normal delivery will be high if the above mentioned lifestyle modifications are followed. Thirdly, fear of labour pain. This fear of pain has become one of the commonest reasons for requesting a C section.

“There is a need of awareness on the significance of a balanced diet, healthy lifestyle, physical activity and other important check-ups during pregnancy. Mother has to be prepared for both caesarean or a normal delivery, but it’s good to remain healthy during pregnancy and post-pregnancy,” says consultant obstetrician Dr R Shanthi.

Vaginal birth after Caesarean (VBAC) can also be done under certain circumstances, for pregnant women who have had a previous C section, enabling them to have a normal birthing process.