More midwives needed to reduce caesarean deliveries: Experts

Experts at a discussion on Tuesday put an emphasis on reducing the number of caesarean deliveries by raising awareness about the benefits of normal delivery.

For this, they also suggested increasing the number of midwives.

They were addressing a discussion titled, "Know Your Birth Right" at the EMK Centre in Dhaka, organised by Save the Children.

While speaking at the programme, Public health professional Dr Selina Amin said, "The number of midwives needs to be increased to reduce the rate of C-sections. The midwives will refer the expecting mothers with high risk to doctors."

"Currently, we have only 3,000 midwives in the country against the demand of 21,000," she added.

Farin Doula, co-founder and trainer at Yellow Brick Road, said, "No anesthesia is needed in normal deliveries and mothers need to stay at the hospital for a shorter period of time."

Besides, a normal delivery costs Tk5,000 to Tk7,000, while a caesarean delivery costs from Tk25,000 to Tk80,000 depending on the type of the private clinics, she added.

Among others, Dr Mariha Chowhury, consultant of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Pravaa health, Nissim Jan Sajid, lead psychological counselor and additional managing director at Psychological Health and Wellness Clinic, Dr MED Beatrice

Ambauen Berger, deputy medical director at LAMB Hospital in Dinajpur.