The Business of Birth in Kashmir

Cesarean deliveries are surging at an alarming rate in Jammu and Kashmir, triggering concerns over medical ethics, institutional practices, and the urgent need for patient awareness.

- Er. Haya Aijaz

In recent years, Kashmir has witnessed a massive surge in cesarean section deliveries, raising serious concerns among public health experts barring concerned surgeons.

With a steady increase in test driven C-sections, many healthcare professionals are reportedly steering patients toward surgical births often for convenience or profit, turning this into a disturbing trend. Many expecting mothers report feeling pressured into cesarean deliveries.

Doctors frequently cite vague or questionable reasons such as the baby's size, low amniotic fluid, potential distress, or hypothetical complications to push for surgery. They often claim, "It's safer for the baby," or "We don't want to take a risk," without giving women full information or viable alternatives.

Ironically, the advancement of technology in healthcare, rather than making childbirth more natural and safe, has made it harder for women to deliver normally. In earlier times, women gave birth without complications on roads, in tongas, in caravans, and even while migrating from one place to another. Nomadic women delivered babies anywhere, anytime, without hospitals or technology, and often without medical issues.

Even today, in villages and far-flung areas where modern technology has limited access, normal deliveries are still common. Women in these regions often remain healthier and stronger than their urban counterparts, despite not undergoing frequent scans or clinical followups. This contrast raises an important question: Has technology truly improved maternal health, or has it enabled a trend of unnecessary surgical interventions?