Egypt at the moment has one of many highest cesarean part charges on this planet, in response to the Egyptian Well being Council, ranking third after the Dominican Republic and Brazil, and the best within the Center East and North Africa, as of June 2025.
Whereas cesarean sections may be life-saving in sure conditions, their fast and widespread enhance in Egypt is a explanation for concern in regards to the state of maternal care within the nation, according to a 2023 examine by Doaa Oraby, a public well being advisor, in regards to the elevated prevalence of caesarean part in Cairo and Gharbia Governorates..
Rising Concern Over Maternal Well being
In 2005, fewer than one in 5 births in Egypt had been delivered by cesarean part, also referred to as C-section. The speed climbed to twenty-eight % in 2008 and rose sharply to 52 % by 2014. By 2021, it had reached a staggering 72 %, nearly 5 instances greater than the World Well being Group’s (WHO) recommended range of 10 to fifteen %.
According to Abla Al-Alfy, Egypt’s Deputy Minister of Well being and Inhabitants for Inhabitants and Household Growth, the rising cesarean charges are a troubling signal for the nation’s maternal well being system.
She noted that pure supply stays the worldwide medical commonplace, whereas cesarean sections, that are main surgical procedures, ought to ideally account for not more than about 10 % of births.
The Worldwide Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) cited Egypt’s rising figures, as of June 2025, as a putting instance of pointless cesarean sections advisable to sufferers for non-medical components. Such reasons include restricted public well being funding, heavy reliance on personal clinics, and financial uncertainty. The shortage of reasonably priced public care pushes sufferers towards costlier personal amenities, and that, as a result of monetary instability, could encourage docs to suggest surgical deliveries as a result of their greater value.
In 2017, Egyptian households paid 56 % of the nation’s complete health-care prices out of pocket, far exceeding the 40 percent average seen in low- and lower-middle-income nations.
Moreover, many anticipating moms opt for cesarean sections to keep away from labor ache, typically unaware of the dangers, and and not using a clear medical want, placing ladies susceptible to severe issues.
Whereas pure childbirth has dangers, cesareans, like every main surgical procedure, carry significant risks that are typically extra extreme, together with postoperative bleeding, greater possibilities of blood clots, and attainable wound infections.
According to the WHO, caesarean sections ought to solely be carried out when medically essential, comparable to within the case of extended labour, having a number of pregnancies, irregular fetal presentation, or maternal well being circumstances, together with coronary heart illness, hypertension, or infections.
Labeled as an “epidemic,” WHO notes that in cesarean deliveries, moms face a 4 to 10 instances greater danger of dying in comparison with vaginal births.
Governmental Crackdown on C-Sections
In an effort to confront the rising disaster, Egypt’s Ministry of Well being and Inhabitants announced on 29 August 2025 a collection of obligatory rules for personal medical amenities. The brand new guidelines are designed to advertise secure, pure births and curb the widespread use of pointless cesarean sections.
Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the ministry’s spokesperson, said the measures intention to safeguard the well-being of moms and infants by imposing evidence-based medical practices, strengthening oversight of delivery statistics, and enhancing obstetrics and gynecology companies within the personal sector.
The initiative is part of the presidential program “The Golden 1,000 Days for Egyptian Household Growth,” launched in August 2023. It focuses on the primary 1,000 days of a kid’s life, spanning being pregnant by the primary two years—a vital window when roughly 85 % of a kid’s mind, bodily growth, and emotional development takes place, according to the College of Minnesota.
The plan additionally includes introducing specialised coaching for obstetricians and midwives, together with the creation of “Mom-and-Child Pleasant Neonatal Models” that meet worldwide requirements.
Personal medical amenities are now required to supply detailed month-to-month studies, monitoring the overall variety of births, the share of cesarean deliveries categorized by the Robson classification, endorsed by the World Well being Group in 2015, and the explanations behind every cesarean part.
The Robson Classification organizes deliveries into teams utilizing routine obstetric knowledge, together with gestational age, earlier cesarean sections, fetal place, variety of infants, and the way labor started.
Reporting started on the finish of August this 12 months and is anticipated to proceed frequently. To verify the foundations are adopted, the ministry has tasked well being directorates in each governorate with monitoring compliance and evaluating how properly medical amenities are performing.
Strengthening main care and increasing well being protection are key to selling pure childbirth and limiting and reserving pointless cesarean sections for essential instances.
Lowering C-section charges is determined by equipping hospitals for secure, reasonably priced pure births, educating households, and legally defending docs. Nonetheless, the largest problem is elevating consciousness in regards to the dangers of pointless surgical procedure to moms and incentivizing docs to prioritize pure supply.