Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Apr;206(4):331.e1-19.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2012.02.026. Epub 2012 Mar 1.

Inequities in the use of cesarean section deliveries in the world

Luz Gibbons  1 , José M Belizan, Jeremy A Lauer, Ana P Betran, Mario Merialdi, Fernando Althabe
Affiliations

Inequities in the use of cesarean section deliveries in the world

Luz Gibbons et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2012 Apr.

Erratum in

  • Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2014 Feb;210(2):162

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the unequal distribution in the performance of cesarean section delivery (CS) in the world and the resource-use implications of such inequity.

Study design: We obtained data on the number of CSs performed in 137 countries in 2008. The consensus is that countries should achieve a 10% rate of CS; therefore, for countries that are below that rate, we calculated the cost to achieve a 10% rate. For countries with a CS rate of >15%, we calculated the savings that could be made by the achievement of a 15% rate.

Results: Fifty-four countries had CS rates of <10%, whereas 69 countries showed rates of >15%. The cost of the global saving by a reduction of CS rates to 15% was estimated to be $2.32 billion (US dollars); the cost to attain a 10% CS rate was $432 million (US dollars).

Conclusion: CSs that are potentially medically unjustified appear to command a disproportionate share of global economic resources.

PubMed Disclaimer