According to the annual Compendium of Health Statistics published by the Office of Health Economics (OHE), more and more obese women deliver by caesarian method. This is costing the NHS twice as much as the normal delivery.
From a 16.6% in 1995, the deliveries by C section have increased to 23.2%. There is also a 3.5% increase of obesity among women from 1995 to 2006. There is an increase of emergency C sections while the elective caesarians remain at the same level. When age factor is considered, older women in Netherlands and Finland are having considerably lower levels of C sections than their British counterparts.The common reasons for C sections are the foetal distress and the inability of the foetus to move ahead. Prof James Walker, of St James's University Hospital, Leeds said that the babies of obese women tend to be fat which is likely to restrict the passage of baby. There is also a rise in expenses of infrastructural facilities as a fat woman in labor needs a bigger delivery bed and operating table. He also emphasized the need for healthy diet and exercise which will enable the women to get back to shape after delivery.
Source-Medindia
JYT
