30% of births end up in caesareans. This is demonstrated by a research project led by researchers from the Public Health Agency of Barcelona (PHAB), which relates two of the influencing factors in this practice: social class and the maternity service utilized (public or private). Researchers advise prudence in interpreting these results.
The study, published in the magazine Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health , analyzes the data of female residents in Barcelona who gave birth between 1994 and 2003, and reveals that a relevant factor in the percentage of caesareans is birth care in private clinics, since they double public clinics in the number of surgeries.
The research project's authors confirm to SINC that, in Spain, the number of interventions carried out through caesareans is "excessive". "More caesareans are being done than should be done. All medical literature interprets that it should be done, at a maximum, in 15% of cases, although in many rich countries this figure is being doubled", explains Joaquín Salvador, main author of the study and researcher at PHAB.
The results show that when public healthcare and private healthcare are compared, more caesareans are carried out in the latter case. "When women from disadvantaged social classes give birth in private clinics, the percentage of caesareans is equal to that of more advantaged classes".
Notwithstanding, the researcher advises prudence when interpreting these results. "These are two variables that are very difficult to separate. We cannot deduce that the only thing intervening is the type of maternity either, since logically, women belonging to a more favoured social class are going to have more access to private healthcare", he adds.