Increase in cesarean sections in Brazil – a call to reflection
Antônio Mendes da Costa Braga, Sue Yazaki Sun, Alberto Moreno Zaconeta, Alberto Trapani, Adriana Gomes Luz, Gabriel Costa Osanan, Geraldo Duarte, José Geraldo Lopes Ramos, Maria Celeste Osório Wender, Roseli Mieko Yamamoto Nomura, Rossana Pulcineli Vieira Francisco, Vera Borges, Rosiane Mattar
Abstract
Cesarean rates have increased progressively over the decades in all countries, and a high figure of 56% was reached in Brazil, second only to the Dominican Republic (59%) and well above the average of developing countries.[1] This scenario in our country motivated government and private sector initiatives, among which the Projeto Parto Adequado ("Adequate Childbirth Project"), with a view to reducing cesarean sections.[2] The set of these actions allowed for a stabilization and even a slight decrease in cesarean section rates according to data from the Information System on Live Births (Portuguese acronym: SINASC) of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. However, preliminary data from SINASC for 2022 pointed to a further increase in cesarean sections in Brazil (cesarean section rates: 2016: 55.4%; 2017: 55.7%; 2018: 55.9%; 2019: 56.3%; 2020: 57.2%; 2021: 57%)[3] and motivated this reflection made by Brazilian obstetric schools.