According to data from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), around 47.4 per cent of the deliveries in private health institutions in the country were via caesarean section, up from 40.9 per cent in the previous survey (2015-16). ,
Overall, there has been a four-digit increase in the number of C-sections in the country in the last five years. The figure is 21.5% in the fifth round of NFHS, as against 17.2% of C-section births (NFHS-4).
The increase in C-section births is not limited to private health facilities, but also shows a 3% increase in public health facilities. In public health facilities, the percentage of C-section births is 14.3, compared to 11.9 percent in the previous survey.
According to NFHS-5, the overall percentage of C-section births has seen an increase in Haryana (from 11.7% to 19.5%), Jharkhand (from 9.9% to 12.8%), Madhya Pradesh (from 8.6% to 12.1%) in the last five years . and Odisha (13.8% to 21.6%), Punjab (24.6% to 38.5%), Tamil Nadu (34.1% to 44.9%), Uttar Pradesh (9.4% to 13.7%), Uttarakhand (13.1% to 20.4%), Kerala (35.8%) % to 38.9%), Maharashtra (20.1% to 25.4%), Goa (31.4% to 39.5%), Gujarat (18.4% to 21%).
Delhi has shown a slight decline in C-section births from 26.7% to 23.6%; As does Mizoram (12.7% to 10.8%) and Nagaland (5.8% to 5.2%).
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