Egypt has announced an initiative titled the "Golden Thousand Days" that encourages doctors for natural childbirth instead of cesarean section, and holds trainings to medical staff in this regard.
The initiative has stipulated that financial incentives for doctors will be increased for applying natural child births the same as cesarean delivery.
The initiative came in response to the high rate of caesarean section reaching more than 72 percent of the total number of births in Egypt. The ministry is concerned with the high number, as most of the births could have been replaced by natural childbirth.
Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, said that the caesarean section, coupled with repeated births, leads to an increase in the child's chance to enter into the nursery immediately after birth.
"Many caesarean sections are not justified, children enter nurseries, and there is a high rate of autism, as caesarean section affects the health of the mother and child," the spokesperson added, explaining that the rates of cesarean delivery globally are 20%.
He continued saying, "the financial incentive is the reason for doctors' demand for cesarean deliveries, and we have started training nursing members in (midwifery) so that there is a sufficient number of nurses who are able to deliver women according to the guidelines."
He explained that one of the most important reasons for the increase in caesarean section rates is the high fees of the medical staff in such operations, and then the ministry’s decision, under the directives of the Minister of Health, was that the value of the wage be equal in both natural and cesarean deliveries.
Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, said: "We aim to reduce the rates of the unexplained caesarean sections, in exchange for an increase in the demand for natural births, in the context of preserving the health of the mother and fetus, and improving the general health of citizens."
Source: Egypt Today
