Fear of being sued driving C-section deliveries

SURGEONS are carrying out caesarean sections because they are scared of being sued if normal births go wrong, a study has found.

According to a major international review, many obstetricians feel pressured into performing C-sections despite evidence that they are less safe than a normal birth.

More than one in four births in Britain are by C-section (in Australia, it’s about 32 per cent). Fear of being sued – with compensation potentially running into the millions – is a leading factor in the choice of a caesarean in almost seven out of 10 cases in the UK, the research showed.

Errors or incompetence in maternity wards were some of the biggest costs to the NHS.

Experts from Trinity College Dublin examined the views of 9008 midwives and obstetricians in 34 studies in 20 countries conducted between 1992 and 2016. Fear of litigation was identified as one of the main factors influencing the decision.