DHAKA: A writ petition was flied seeking High Court directives against unnecessary caesarean section for delivering babies at hospitals and clinics across the country.

Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Suman on Tuesday (June 25) submitted the petition seeking a HC rule asking the government to explain why its inaction to stop unnecessary C-section of pregnant mothers should not be declared illegal.

Citing a report of Save the Children, he said 77 per cent of all C-section operations—or an estimated 860,000 procedures in 2018—were medically unnecessary, up from 570,000 in 2016. 

Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Secretary of Bangladesh Medical Council and Director General of Directorate General of Health Department have been made defendant in the petition. 

In the petition, he also seeks HC rule to prohibit private hospitals and clinics not to do unnecessary caesarean section of those pregnant women.

In the writ petition, Barrister Sumon attached a report of Save the Children published on June 21. 

According to the report, the number of C-sections increased by 51 percent between 2016 and 2018, new figures released by Save the Children reveal. 

Save the Children is calling for better regulation of the industry, more checks and balances on doctors who carry out the procedure and greater funding for vital maternal health services.

Some risks of C-sections
Unnecessary C-sections put mothers and babies at needless risk, increasing the likelihood of infection, excessive bleeding, organ damage and blood clots as well as ensuring a significantly longer recovery time for the mother. It also takes away the benefits of a natural birth, which enables newborns to receive a dose of good bacteria that’s believed to boost their immune system when they travel through the birth canal, and enables a mother and her baby to have physical contact earlier and breastfeeding to begin sooner.”

BDST: 1617 HRS, JUNE 25, 2019
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