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[Frequency of cesarean sections in four hospitals of Mexico City: 20 years later]
José Narro Robles1, Juan Carlos Hernández Torón, Victoria Imaz Olguín
1Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Background:
This article is an update of a similar study published in 1984 in which the frequency of cesarean sections practiced in four Mexico City hospitals from 1976 to 1983 was analyzed.
Objective:
To assess the frequency of cesarean sections practiced in four Mexico City hospitals from 1995 to 2002.
Material And Method:
Data from these same hospitals corresponding to the 1995-2002 period was again collected.
Results:
The frequency of cesarean sections in those four health care centers exceeded by far the internationally accepted standards; this frequency shows an increase, and it now accounts for twice as many operations as the number of interventions originally recorded. In 1976, 10 out of every 68 pregnancies came to end vaginally. By 2002, the same ratio was 10 out of 27.
Conclusions:
It is urgent to reduce the frequency of such a practice, as well as to reorganize the obstetric services; furthermore, the corresponding modifications in the training of such medical specialists must be done.
