Education and Social Media Versus Non-Indicated Caesarean Section Rate in Egypt

A caesarean section (CS) is a life-saving surgical procedure when certain complications arise during pregnancy and labour. However, it is a major surgery and is associated with immediate maternal and perinatal risks and may have implications for future pregnancies as well as long-term effects that are still being investigated. The use of CS has increased dramatically worldwide in the last decades particularly in middle- and high-income countries, and some studies showing a link between increasing CS rates and poorer outcomes, and reasons for this increase are multifactorial and not well-understood.

In Egypt the CS rate according to WHO (World Health Organization),Health report (2010) is 27.6 %. Egypt also is considered to be the highest African country in CS rate (51.8 %), in which CS rate rose from 4.6 % to 51.8 % over the 24 year period (1990-2014), and more than half of all women give birth by CS in Egypt without much difference between urban and rural areas.

Slightly more than half of the live births in the five-year period before 2014 Egypt Demographic and Health survey were by CS, and 60 % of primigravidas delivered by CS.

Updated indications of primary CS including option of maternal request as one of these indications were reported in both RCOG (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists) Press report (2001) and RCOG CS various guidelines.

Recently, the Egyptian public opinion deviated to obstetricians' desire for self financial benefits to be the major cause of increasing Egypt CS rates; depending on newspaper articles and social media talks.