About one-third of babies in Taiwan were born through caesarean section (C-section), as the nation’s C-section rate increased from 35.2 percent in 2017 to a record high of 38.4 percent in 2023, with about 52,000 babies born through the procedure that year, Health Promotion Administration data showed.
The WHO recommends a C-section rate of between 10 percent and 15 percent.
Physicians said the increase in C-sections in Taiwan could be attributed to changes in pregnant women’s traits, conservative precautionary actions by physicians to ensure the safety of the mother and child, or because the parents want to select an auspicious time for childbirth.
Photo: Taipei Times
Taiwan Society of Perinatology consultant Hung Tai-ho (洪泰和) yesterday said the increase in C-sections is likely associated with advanced maternal age or obesity, as they could face increased risk of complications.
It might also be because the pregnancies were achieved through assisted reproductive technology, prompting physicians to take precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the mother and child, he said.
The average maternal age is 10 years older than one or two decades ago, so many women are giving birth at a more advanced maternal age, which is a high-risk category due to increased risks of complications including hypertension and diabetes, the society said.
As women who give birth at an advanced maternal age often only bear one or two children, compared with those who gave birth to four or five children through natural delivery in the past, the low birthrate also reduced the natural delivery rate, and in turn the C-section rate increased, it said.
Moreover, with advanced assisted reproductive technology, women who are giving birth at an advanced maternal age might have gone through many difficulties to achieve the pregnancy, and might be more concerned about the health of their baby and are more willing to go through a C-section, it said.
In vitro fertilization can also increase the chance of multiple births, which can lead to an increase in the C-section rate, it said.
Meanwhile, some parents want to select an auspicious time for childbirth, but physicians would usually ask them to pick a time after 38 weeks of pregnancy, a workday and have other options prepared, it added.
Hung said there are more advantages to natural birth, including squeezing out amniotic fluid in the baby’s lungs when they pass through the vagina — reducing the risks of respiratory problems in the baby — and a faster recovery for the mother, as well as a reduced risk of infection and lower blood loss.
Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology secretary-general Huang Chien-pei (黃建霈) said medical teams usually perform a C-section only when they have assessed the risks and benefits, and that several high-risk pregnancy cases have been saved by a C-section.
Additional reporting by Hsu Li-chuan
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
UNITED: The other candidates congratulated Cheng on her win, saying they hoped the new chair could bring the party to victory in the elections next year and in 2028 Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday won the party’s chair election with 65,122 votes, or 50.15 percent of the votes. It was the first time Cheng, 55, ran for the top KMT post, and she is the second woman to hold the post of chair, following Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who served from 2016 to 2017. Cheng is to succeed incumbent Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Nov. 1 for a four-year term. Cheng said she has spoken with the other five candidates and pledged to maintain party unity, adding that the party would aim to win the elections next year and
RSS