NEW DELHI: A pilot study conducted in India has found that unnecessary cesarean section deliveries can be significantly reduced and women’s care can be improved by implementing World Health Organization’s guidelines.
WHO data indicated that C-sections account for over 1 in 5 child births globally and they are set to rise in the coming decade to one-third of all births in future.
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, is the world’s first randomised trial of the WHO’s Labor Care Guide (LCG). Researchers included a team from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Karnataka who conducted the pilot trial in four hospitals in India to evaluate the implementation of the LCG strategy compared with routine care.
According to the lead author of the study, Joshua Vogel, the LCG has the potential to reduce unnecessary cesarean sections, which carry health risks for mothers and their babies.
“The LCG was released by the WHO to improve clinical and supportive care for women giving birth worldwide. While it was developed to align with the best available evidence, until now we have not been sure of its effects on women and their babies,” Vogel said.
The study showed that the LCG can be implemented into routine clinical care, even in busy, limited-resource settings.
“In recent decades there has been a generalized trend in health care providers being more ‘interventional’ during birth-this is shown in high rates of cesarean, augmenting labour with drugs and episiotomy we see in many countries,” Vogel added.
The study indicates that cesarean sections can improve health outcomes when used at the right time , but they are often used without clear medical need.
The WHO published recommendations in 2018 to improve the quality of intrapartum care, and a ‘next generation’ partograph called the WHO LCG was developed in 2020.
The trial aims to generate critical evidence and guide future trials to reverse the rising rates of cesarean sections worldwide.
WHO data indicated that C-sections account for over 1 in 5 child births globally and they are set to rise in the coming decade to one-third of all births in future.
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, is the world’s first randomised trial of the WHO’s Labor Care Guide (LCG). Researchers included a team from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Karnataka who conducted the pilot trial in four hospitals in India to evaluate the implementation of the LCG strategy compared with routine care.
According to the lead author of the study, Joshua Vogel, the LCG has the potential to reduce unnecessary cesarean sections, which carry health risks for mothers and their babies.
“The LCG was released by the WHO to improve clinical and supportive care for women giving birth worldwide. While it was developed to align with the best available evidence, until now we have not been sure of its effects on women and their babies,” Vogel said.
The study showed that the LCG can be implemented into routine clinical care, even in busy, limited-resource settings.
“In recent decades there has been a generalized trend in health care providers being more ‘interventional’ during birth-this is shown in high rates of cesarean, augmenting labour with drugs and episiotomy we see in many countries,” Vogel added.
The study indicates that cesarean sections can improve health outcomes when used at the right time , but they are often used without clear medical need.
The WHO published recommendations in 2018 to improve the quality of intrapartum care, and a ‘next generation’ partograph called the WHO LCG was developed in 2020.
The trial aims to generate critical evidence and guide future trials to reverse the rising rates of cesarean sections worldwide.
