The caesarean conversation needs a nutrition lens
Rising Caesarean section rates in India are increasingly linked to maternal nutrition, specifically anaemia and hidden hunger. Experts argue that addressing nutritional deficiencies is a vital, often overlooked strategy to reduce the necessity of surgical births.
Why it matters
Shifting the focus from purely surgical interventions to nutritional health could improve maternal outcomes and reduce the burden on the healthcare system.
India has witnessed a steady and concerning rise in Caesarean section births (C-section) rates over the past decade. According to the National Family Health Survey-5, the C-birth rates in India stand at 21.5 per cent of all births, a significant increase from 17.2 per cent in NFHS-4 and just 8.5 per cent in NFHS-3. Growing evidence suggests that maternal nutrition is an important, though often overlooked, determinant of pregnancy and childbirth outcomes.
Micronutrient deficiencies or hidden hunger, maternal anaemia and the dual burden of malnutrition increase the risk of obstetric complications that often necessitate Caesarean births . The rise in C-births is therefore not solely a surgical or systemic challenge. While this is often discussed as a health-system issue driven by private sector practices, provider preferences, institutional delivery policies, and even medico-legal concerns, it is also, and perhaps more fundamentally, a nutrition issue.
The biological link between nutrition and childbirth
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