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WHO calls for cesarean only when necessary
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Nowadays, a large number of operations are performed in the world, the most common of which is cesarean section, especially often this operation is performed in developed countries.
This operation is performed to save the life of the mother or child, and often both at once. But recently, such interventions are performed without any medical indications, which can cause serious complications, and also puts the lives of the mother and child at risk directly during the operation or in the future.
In its new appeal, WHO called on all countries to focus on the needs of each individual woman and not to aim for a specific target.
A cesarean section may be prescribed if natural birth threatens the life of the child or woman, for example, in the case of a prolonged labor process, fetal presentation, or pathological conditions of the fetus.
At the same time, such an operation can lead to death or disability.
In the mid-80s, the international medical community decided that the frequency of such operations should not exceed 15%. According to new research, if the frequency of surgical intervention increases to 10%, the mortality rate (of mothers and newborns) decreases. If the rate of operations is more than 10%, then the mortality rate also increases. The head of the WHO Department of Reproductive Health, Marlene Temmerman, noted that this surgical intervention plays an important role in saving the lives of both women and children. She also noted that it is important to provide all the necessary conditions for such operations for women who really need them, and in no case does not strive to achieve the indicators for performing surgical interventions. Now experts cannot say whether the frequency of operations affects the rate of stillbirth or severe complications.
Since there is currently no generally accepted system for researching and studying data on caesarean section rates, WHO recommends using the Robson system to better understand this area.
According to this system, every woman in labor who is admitted to the hospital must be assigned to one of ten categories based on certain characteristics (number of previous pregnancies and number of children, position of the fetus in the womb, age, previous surgeries, including cesarean, symptoms of the onset of labor).
This approach will allow us to analyze the frequency of the operation both in one separate maternity ward and in medical institutions of the region, city, or country.
This standardized and widely accepted information will help health care providers who want to improve the quality of care they provide to women and optimize their surgical outcomes. According to Temmerman, all medical societies and decision makers should be encouraged to take the findings into account and implement them as soon as possible.