最新一項研究表明最近20年選擇性和急癥剖宮產術的趨勢增加，并且不能用自然生產風險增加或其他指針來解釋。

澳大利亞Telethon兒童健康研究中心的研究人員和其他澳大利亞機構回顧了1984到2003年西澳大利亞所有出生人員---超過430,000個案例，并分析了分娩的模式。此項研究中排除了其他類型和經臀部分娩的案例。

研究發現從1984到2003年，選擇剖宮產術的比例從6%上升到13%，在同一時期急癥剖宮產術的比例上升了70%。研究人員把私人醫療保險的因素加入分析，他們發現有醫療保險的婦女選擇剖宮產術是不擁有者的3倍多，而急癥剖宮產術為對照組的1.34倍。這項研究刊登在2007年5月出版的英國婦產科學雜志。

母親對剖宮產術要求的程度對于剖宮產術比例的增加影響現在還未知。西澳大利亞大學婦嬰保健學校的Craig Pennell博士說，“結果的產生是多因素聯合的結果，并且反映出復雜的社會影響過程包括，臨床治療狀態、分娩前培訓、家庭與社會壓力、法律體系、住址附近是否能進行這種手術，以及名人是否選擇剖宮產術所產生的榜樣效應等。”




Dramatic Increase in Caesarean Sections 

A new study has found an increasing trend in both elective and emergency caesarean section rates over the past 20 years that do not appear to be explained by increased risk or indication. 

Researchers at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research (Perth, Australia) and other Australian institutions looked at all births in Western Australia between 1984 and 2003--more than 430,000 births--and analyzed the mode of delivery. The researchers excluded multiple and breech births. 

The study found that elective caesareans rose from 6% to 13% between 1984 and 2003, and during the same time, there had been a 70% increase in the number of emergency caesareans. When the researchers included private medical insurance into the analysis, they found that women who had medical insurance were more than three times as likely to have an elective caesarean section, and 1.34 times more likely to have an emergency c-section than those who were uninsured, even though pregnancy complications and obstetric problems which may need a caesarean section are higher in uninsured women. The study was published in the May 2007 issue of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 

he degree to which maternal request accounts for the increase in caesarean sections isn’t known,?said co-author obstetrician Craig Pennell, M.D., from the School of Women’s and Infants’ Health at the University of Western Australia (Perth, Australia). 揟he reasons are likely to be multifactorial and reflect a complex social process affected by clinical status, obstetric practice and training, family and social pressures, the legal system, availability of technology, women’s requests and women’s role models, such as celebrity elective caesarean delivery.