To the Editor: The current rate of caesarean sections in Australia (29% of all live births) is higher than the rate in other similarly affluent countries.1 In addition, the rate is continuing to increase; for example, it was less than 20% in 1993.1
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- Epidemiology Services Unit, Queensland Health, Brisbane, QLD.
Correspondence: trisha_johnston@health.qld.gov.au
- 1. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). OECD health data 2006 [CD-ROM]. Paris: OECD Publications Service, 2006.
- 2. Anderson GM. Making sense of rising caesarean section rates: time to change our goals. BMJ 2004; 329: 696-697.
- 3. Lavender T, Hofmeyr GJ, Neilson JP, et al. Caesarean section for non-medical reasons at term. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2006; (3): CD004660.
- 4. Declercq E, Menacker F, MacDorman MF. Rise in “no indicated risk” primary caesareans in the United States, 1991-2001: cross sectional analysis. BMJ 2005; 330: 71-72.
- 5. Villar J, Valladares E, Wojdyla D, et al. Caesarean delivery rates and pregnancy outcomes: the 2005 WHO global survey on maternal and perinatal health in Latin America. Lancet 2006; 367: 1819-1829.
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