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29 March 2024

Hospitals ban C-section to cut cost

Some hospitals are banning caesarean sections which are popular with stars like Angelina Jolie. (GETTY/GALLO)

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By Staff

Cash-strapped hospitals in the UK have launched a crackdown on pregnant women - they are banned form having caesarean birth, unless a normal delivery puts the llife of mother and baby at risk.

A report in 'dailymail.co.uk' said, a planned caesarean costs around £2,600 – much more than the £1,200 cost of a natural birth without complications; taking money from strained NHS budgets away from other priorities such as heart disease and cancer.

However, some mothers-to-be have criticised the decision saying it should be their right to choose how their baby is born.

One quarter of all births in the UK are now by caesarean section, up from just 9 per cent in 1980

Economists estimate a drop of even one per cent in the proportion of women having the surgery would save the NHS about £5.6million a year.

The bans only affect planned caesareans, not c-sections which are carried out for emergency reasons. And if a natural birth would pose a health risk for mother or baby, a c-section would be allowed.