Irish maternity hospitals see 154pc increase in Caesarean sections

The amount of women having C-sections in Ireland has seen a huge increase in recent years.

Since 1992, the number of women having Caesarean sections in two of Ireland’s biggest maternity hospitals has increased by 154 percent. One in three babies in Ireland are born via C-section with roughly half of those being planned before hand. Statistics have found that the number of mothers in Dublin opting for the procedure has risen faster than in Germany and in the US. The research also found that just one in three women at the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital and the National Maternity Hospital on Holles Street give birth naturally after having a C-section with their first baby. Medical professionals say that more and more women are opting for C-sections due to the increasing chances of success of the procedures.

“This is going to push up our Caesarean section rates in years to come,” UCD Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Michael Turner said of the findings. “There is no sign that our Caesarean section rate has plateaued. “And these findings are likely to be similar in the other 17 maternity units in Ireland.”