Brazil has introduced new laws aimed at reducing the country’s high number of caesarean births.

The law took effect from Monday, July 6.

Eighty-five per cent of all births in Brazilian private hospitals are caesareans and in public hospitals the figure is 45%.

With this new law, the government is hoping to steer the country from its status as a world leader in C-section births.

The rules and a campaign called “Childbirth is normal!” address what Health Minister Arthur Chioro has dubbed an “epidemic” of Cesareans, currently accounting for more than half of births in this nation of 200 million.

The new rules oblige doctors to inform women about the risks and ask them to sign a consent form before performing a caesarean.

Doctors will also have to justify why a caesarean was necessary.

They will have to fill in a complete record of how the labour and birth developed and explain their actions.

When they fail to give requested information, the health insurance companies face fines of up to about $8,000.

Making patients better informed will help diminish the rush for C-sections, health officials say.

Each pregnant woman will now be assigned medical notes which record the history of her pregnancy, which she can take with her if she changes doctors.

The new rules are designed to reduce unnecessary surgical procedures, and ensure pregnant women are aware of the risks associated with caesareans.

However, experts say that a scarcity of maternity beds and wards equipped to deal with natural births means that for many women in Brazil, caesarean birth is seen as the best option.

“The best way to guarantee yourself a bed in a good hospital is to book a caesarean,” Pedro Octavio de Britto Pereira, an obstetrician and professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, said in an interview with BBC Brasil last year.

While others believe that women in Brazil undergo the operation, in which the baby is delivered through a small incision in the mother’s abdomen — often for no other reason than the convenience of being able to choose the date.

Ignorance and desire for convenience drive Brazilian mothers-to-be to the operating table, said the author of the just published book “Diario de Bordo do Parto,” or “Guide to Childbirth, Luciana Herrero.”

Researchers say many women also see caesareans as more civilised and modern, and natural birth as primitive, ugly and inconvenient.

In Brazil’s body-conscious culture, where there is little information given about childbirth, there is also huge concern that natural birth can make women sexually unattractive.

Many doctors prefer caesareans too, as they can plan the time of a birth, and feel more protected from litigation.

Cesareans may be convenient but they can also be dangerous for the mother and potentially pose grave future health consequences for the baby, ranging from an increased risk of obesity to chronic illness.
http://www.tv360nigeria.com/?p=26060
I hope a similiar law is introduced in Nigeria because the rate women now rush caesarean operation in Nigeria is really alarming

.

wonder if it will work.

oyinbo sha so they enjoy CS

This is silently becoming a norm in Nigeria.

Akposb:
This is silently becoming a norm in Nigeria.

I agree and is quiet alarming

B