Caesarean section in public and private practice: Papua New Guinean, Australian and other overseas patterns compared
Mola, G.
Papua and new Guinea Medical Journal 30(1): 5-9
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0031-1480 PMID: 3475869 Document Number: 301121
Caesarean section rates have increased dramatically in most western countries over the past two decades. Teaching hospitals tend to have higher rates than smaller institutions. Caesarean rates vary markedly from one institution to another in the same country. It is common for the rate of caesarean section in private patients to be more than double that of public patients in the same institution. On the other hand private pratients tend to belong to higher socioeconomic groups and have fewer antenatal risk factors. While caesarean rates have commonly risen from 5 to 20% in Australia and the USA over the past two decades, rates at the Port Moresby General Hospital [Papua New Guinea] have remained fairly constant at a low level of 2-3%; moreover, private rates have remained similarly low.