Number of Caesarean births treble since 1970s

Published on Tuesday 29 September 2009 14:00

THE number of babies born by Caesarean surgery in Scotland has trebled in just over 30 years, figures revealed today.

The latest official statistics showed that just over one in 10 women giving birth had a planned Caesarean.

And in 15.2% of births, medics had to carry out an emergency section.

The figures, which cover the year ending March 2008, showed 56,821 babies were born in Scotland – an increase of almost 2,000 on the previous year.

Just over a quarter (25.9%) of live births were carried out by Caesarian section.

And 10.7% of women opted to have an elective Caesarean section, where it is planned in advance. In most cases women have clinical reasons for this, such as the baby being in the breech position or the woman having more than one baby.

That compares with 1976 when just 8.6% of births were by Caesarean section – with 3.9% by emergency Caesarean and only 4.7% of women having an elective Caesarean.

The figures also showed a steady rise in the number of babies born to older mums, with 30 to 34 the most common age for women to have a baby. A total of 15,222 babies were born to women in this age group in 2008, which was 27% of all births.

Back in 1976 only 13% of babies were born to women in this age range.

The figures for 2008 also showed that 1,958 babies were born to women over the age of 40, compared with 813 in 1976.

The most common age for women starting a family in more affluent areas was 32, compared with 19 in areas of high deprivation.

And women from poorer areas were twice as likely to have a baby with a low birth weight as those from the least deprived areas.