STOP STIGMATISING CAESAREAN BIRTH

KATE makes it look easy, but for many women a natural birth is impossible. Which is why the news that one-in-four hospitals are denying expectant mothers elective Caesareans is deeply worrying.

There are many reasons why women ask for Caesareans, from psychological trauma following a difficult previous birth to concerns about the size of their baby. Yet still society — and sections of midwifery — seeks to stigmatise them as lazy and cowardly and force them to undergo a process that may cause lasting physical and mental damage.

When women’s rights have never been championed more loudly, it beggars belief that some mothers are treated this way. But that is what you get if you fail to subscribe to the fashionable view that Caesareans are unnatural and costly. The former may be true — though no one would apply the principle to fixing a broken limb.

The latter is a myth: according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the medium-term cost of a planned Caesarean is less than £100 more than for a vaginal delivery.

With childbirth, there is no right or wrong way, just what works best for the individual. Medical staff should respect that — and allow women the right to choose.