NEARLY ONE THIRD of Irish mothers give birth by caesarean section, a new report says.
The Irish Maternity Indicator System national report for 2014 shows that 29% of all births in Ireland were carried out by c-section.
The report says that there are many possible reasons for the increase, including the rising age of first-time mothers and the decreased risks involved.
There are many possible reasons for these increases, including reductions in the risk of caesarean delivery, increasing litigation, increases in first births among older women, and the rise in multiple births resulting from assisted reproduction.
The report, which is the first of its kind in the world, shows there were 67,263 births to 65,987 women. The National Maternity Hospital, the Rotunda and the Coombe had the most births.
In total, there were 1,255 births with multiple babies, 688 women ended up in intensive care or high-dependency after giving birth and seven died. There were 407 perinatal deaths (stillbirths and early neonatal deaths. 93 of those came with a congenital anomaly.
787 women experienced an ectopic pregnancy, a pregnancy where the foetus develops outside the womb. There were eight cases of eclampsia.
Just over 40% of women who gave birth had an epidural, 15% required some form of instrumentation to be used and 29% had to be induced.
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