At the event (Photo: VNA)
Government should intervene to reduce the rate of ,
which has been rising in the country, an International Federation of Gynecology
and Obstetrics (FIGO) official has said.
, chairman of ’s
Committee for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health, said world-wide there has
been an explosion in caesarean deliveries, ranging from 50 percent in south-eastern
Europe to 60 percent in some Latin American countries.
In Vietnam, the rate was 33 percent in 2008, he
told an annual Vietnam-France-Asia-Pacific Conference that took place recently
in Ho Chi Minh City.
According to the Ministry of Health, the rate
was only 12.4 percent in 2003.
Visser said the incidence of C-section has
nothing to do with evidence-based medicine.
The increase in C-sections raises direct
maternal morbidity, complications in subsequent pregnancies, neonatal morbidity
due to early delivery, and auto-immune and metabolic disease in the offspring,
he said.
It is time to consider the risks of C-sections
for long-term child health, he said.
Fees for caesarean deliveries should be reduced
for both the doctor and hospital, he said. Besides, caesarean fees should be
used to increase vaginal delivery fees for doctors, better preparation for
labour and delivery, skills training for doctors and upgrading labour wards at
hospitals, he said.
Nguyen Duc Vinh, head of the Ministry of
Health’s maternal and child health department, said Visser’s recommendations
are important for policy makers like him.
The two-day conference also highlighted good
nutrition in the 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s second
birthday.
Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Anh Tuan of the HCM City
University of Medicine and Pharmacy said the 1,000 days are a unique period of
opportunity to ensure children’s optimum health, growth and neurodevelopment.
Good nutrition during this period helps prevent
non-communicable diseases such as obesity and diabetes in future, he said.
Other health experts spoke about the importance
of vaccines during pregnancy and children’s first years.
The conference was held by Tu Du Hospital
together with the French National College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians,
FIGO and the Federation of Asia and Oceania’s Perinatal Societies.
doctors and experts from Vietnam and other countries like France, Italy, the US
and others, who shared their scientific studies and provided an up-to-date
overview of obstetrics and gynecology, assisted reproductive technology, and
screening, diagnosis and treatment of gynecological cancers.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
