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
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
Taiwan yesterday said it was looking forward to attending an upcoming memorial in Japan to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, a day after the Japanese city said it had retracted its previous decision to not invite Taiwan to the event. The case has been dealt with by Taiwan’s representative office in Fukuoka and the Nagasaki City Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The ministry would decide who to send to the Aug. 9 event once it receives the invitation, it added. The ministry made the remarks following a Japanese media report on Saturday that said Nagasaki Mayor
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
RSS