90 out of 100 childbirths are are carried out by Caesarean section

Health agencies both national and international, are increasingly alarmed by the increase in Caesarean sections in the Dominican Republic's private clinics, where out of every hundred births, 90 are carried out through this technique.

Carlos Gril, maternal and child health adviser from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), said that the acceptable percentage of Caesarean sections is 15 percent, and attributed the unusually high rate of caesareans carried out here to the high rate of maternal mortality in the country, estimated at 100 per every 100,000 births.

Gril described the number of Caesarean sections handled officially in the Dominican Republic as "unacceptable" , some 40% in hospitals, and 90% in private health clinics. and he argued that these rates "should not happen under any circumstances, of 15 percent".

He noted, however, that the increase in Caesarean sections is not exclusive to this country, as around the world there is a increase in the rate of caesarean section above the figure expected.

Gril attributed this situation to the fact that the culture of natural childbirth has been lost, and to the extreme medicalization of childbirth (treating delivery as if it was a situation of high complexity, or a disease which deserves strict control).

Maternal mortality
The PAHO's representative recognized that over the past 10 years the Dominican Republic has made "invaluable" efforts and investments to improve the health care, and that now 98 percent of women have access to public health services.

However, the PAHO regretted that that effort has been only half efficient, because the rate of maternal mortality remains high.

"All that the Government has done in the sector health in recent years, you would expect that the maternal mortality rate in the Dominican Republic around 50 for each 100,000", pointed out.

According to the last demographic health survey for the year 2007, the rate stood at 159 for every 100,000.

In 2010 the official figures of the Department of Public Health Epidemiology estimated the maternal mortality rate at around 100 per 100,000.

Gril stressed that while there has been a sustained reduction of the maternal mortality rate the country cannot fulfill certain objectives of the Millennium, which is a two-thirds reduction of the maternal mortality  rate.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday started an international workshop in the country, on maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive rights and the international and regional instruments of human rights, in order to promote and strengthen the training programmes for health workers.

In the workshop, which takes place until tomorrow, it seeks to strengthen the knowledge of participants regarding the use of international and regional treaties on human rights.

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