Obese/Overweight women force up rate of caesarean births

Obese women force up rate of caesarean births

Extract:

"Overweight women are driving up the number of babies born by caesarean section, which stands at almost one in four of all births, statisticians said yesterday.

Being overweight or obese increases the risks of problems in labour and caesarean rates show no sign of declining.

In 1995 the rate was 16.6 per cent and last year it was up to 23.2 per cent.

At the same time obesity in women has become much more common, with 21 per cent of women obese compared with 16.5 per cent in 1995.

The Office of Health Economics (OHE), which published its annual Compendium of Health Statistics yesterday, said that each caesarean delivery cost the NHS twice as much as a normal birth.

The health service could save £1 million for every 800 caesareans compared with births that are normal and uncomplicated."

Remember - obesity is caused by fluid retention, which is in turn usually caused by salt/sodium retention, and pregnant women are particularly at risk of these problems, and also of raised blood pressure, if they eat salt or salty food during pregnancy. For further information, see http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/pregnant_mothers.html

To cut down on caesareans, therefore, pregnant women should be being advised to minimise their salt/sodium intake during pregnancy.