In a significant step towards maternal and child healthcare, the State Government has expanded Caesarean Section (C-Section) Audit of delivery cases to all private hospitals.

The Director of Family Welfare has issued instructions to the Chief District Medical and Public Health Officers of all districts and urban bodies to this effect, an official release informed on Friday.

The officials were asked to ensure implementation of the audit in their areas of jurisdiction from May 1, 2023.

Notably, the C-Section Audit was being done in all Government health facilities previously.

Available data show that there is a sharp increase in caesarean deliveries between National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 of 2015-16 and NFHS-5 of 2019-21. During this period, C-Section increased from 53.7% to 70.7%, which was higher than the ideal C-Section rate recommended by the WHO panel of reproductive child health. The panel after re-examining the C-Section Rate in 2015 also mentioned, “At population level, caesarean section rates higher than 10% are not associated with reductions in maternal and new born mortality rates”. This indicated the need for addressing the cause of C-Section rise in Odisha. So, the State Government expanded the C-Section Audit system to all private health facilities as well.

For the purpose, three different prototype audit formats were worked out and circulated to all districts. At the first level, the audit would be done as per specifications in Format-A which would be compiled in Format-B. The CDMPHOs after due scrutiny would submit the report to the Directorate in Format-C.

Each CDMPHO was also asked to designate a programme officer for coordinating with private health facilities regarding proper implementation of the C-Section Audit. Medical experts said the outcomes of the audit would be helpful in making the reproductive child healthcare more effective in coming years.