More women are now choosing caesarean section deliveries as compared to normal deliveries, a new report shows.
Data from the Economic Survey Report 2023 shows whereas there has been a steady increase in the number of caesarean section deliveries in the country over time, normal deliveries have recorded a slight decline.
According to the report, the number of deliveries through caesarean section rose by 4.8 per cent from 201,510 in 2021 to 211,227 in 2022.
The CS deliveries were 189,119 in 2020, 171,856 in 2019 and 155,191 in 2018.
“Normal deliveries declined slightly from 1,024,816 in 2021 to 1,024,354 in 2022, accounting for 82 per cent of total deliveries in 2022,” the report shows.
Normal deliveries were 973,882 in 2020, 970,267 in 2019 and 939,910 in 2018.
The report shows the number of Assisted Vaginal Deliveries decreased by 30.8 per cent to 4,931 while breech deliveries declined by 3.1 per cent to 9,395 in 2022.
A breech pregnancy occurs if the uterus has too much or too little amniotic fluid, meaning the baby has extra room to move around in or not enough fluid to move around in.
A study released in January said Kenyan doctors are overwhelmingly choosing CS saying it is unnecessary in a quarter of all cases.
The study was conducted in eight deliberately selected hospitals in Kenya in 2020, where 630 emergency CS cases were analysed and medics interviewed.
The researchers were seeking answers to why there’s low uptake of assisted vaginal deliveries during emergencies.
According to the analysis, at least 10 per cent of the CSs were unnecessary and assisted vaginal births would have been successful.
“The number of cases suggests that women are undergoing unnecessary SSCS (second stage caesarean sections),” the report said.
Either emergency CS or assisted vaginal birth is recommended when there is maternal fatigue, maternal medical indications, suspected fetal hypoxia (fetus being deprived of oxygen) or prolonged second-stage labour.