Govt to bring out guidelines to perform caesarians

A high-level meeting convened by Health Minister P K Sreemathi appointed a four-member expert panel, headed by Dr Jameela, Additional Director of Health Services to prepare the guidelines and submit its report in two weeks.

The government acted swiftly in view of the mass C-sections performed in two government hospitals at Cherthala in Alappuzha and Kadakkal in Kollam districts recently, allegedly to suit the holiday plans of doctors.

"In November itself, government had issued guidelines to reduce the number of C-sections in the state, which was far above the national average. The reports of mass caesarians are shocking and the government decided to formulate strict guidelines', Sreemathi told PTI.

She said four doctors at Cherthala taluk hospital have been transferred after it was found that 21 C-sections were performed in two days and added that a detailed probe was on into the incident.

Meanwhile, the Kollam District Medical Officer collected evidence today from Kadakkal government hospital where 16 C-sections were performed in three days. The DMO is expected to submit the report to the government soon.

A group of people today took out a protest march to the taluk hospital, demanding action against the doctors responsible for the incident. In the Kadakkal hospital 16 women underwent caesarians on April 16, 18 and 19, allegedly to suit the convenience of the anaesthetist who wanted to proceed on 10-day leave from Apr 20.

In the incident at Cherthala, 21 caesarian sections were performed in two days at the government hospital. In both cases, the allegation was that such a large number of operations were performed without taking into account basic factors like bed-strength.

It was alleged that some of these cases involved women who could wait a few more days for normal delivery. The doctors allegedly advanced deliveries to suit Easter holiday plans.

According to health experts, the number of caesarians performed every year in Kerala far exceeds WHO limits. While the UN health agency has fixed caesarian sections not to exceed 15 per every 100 deliveries, it is as high as 45 in Kerala.