Beijing has seen rapid increase in Caesarean births in the past two decades and more, with the highest rate reaching 60 percent in some hospitals.

 

This has offset the efforts of Chinese medical workers to control the Caesarean birth rate, said Ding Hui, a doctor with the Beijing Maternal and Infant Care Center.

 

The Caesarean birth rate stood at an average 19.5 percent annually in Beijing during the 1980-1984 period. The rate had kept rising in the following years and hitting 47.92 percent by the end of 2004, Monday's Legal Evening News quoted the statistics from the China Eugenic Science Association as reporting.

 

Meanwhile, 80,000 to 120,000 babies are born in Beijing annually.

 

Beijing's Caesarean birth rate is far higher than the less than 15 percent set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

 

But the Caesarean birth rate should have not been rising so fast in Beijing, Ding said.

 

Some pregnant women demanded for a Caesarean operation just because they were afraid of pains, Ding said. On the other hand, doctors often gave in to such keen demand.

 

Heavier fetus was another factor behind increasing Caesarean births in the city, said Tian Xiulan, deputy head of the Gynaecology and Obseterics Department of Beijing Renhe Hospital.

 

Tian said, fetus weighed about three kilograms on average in the past, but now fetus weighing four to five kilograms were commonly seen in local hospitals.

 

Moreover, as more women decided to have babies at older ages, doctors sometimes suggested Caesarean operation for safety reasons, said doctor Zhai with the Beijing Gynaecology Hospital.

 

Driven by higher profits, some doctors seduced pregnant women to choose Caesarean operation, said doctor Ding with the Beijing Maternal and Infant Care Center.

 

A Caesarean operation charges 6,000 yuan (US$750) compared with 2,400 yuan (US$300) for a natural birth.

 

Experts have suggested that pregnant women should give birth to their babies by themselves. As Caesarean operation might lead to infant pneumonia, immunodeficiency and other diseases.

 

Women who undergo Caesarean operation are more likely to develop depression than those who give birth to their babies on their own, doctor Zhai said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2006)