C-section births rise rapidly to more than 20 percent worldwide

FILE PHOTO: Moroccan doctors carry a Syrian baby Siwar, who was born by caesarean section in a field hospital in Al Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, March 7, 2016. REUTERS/ Muhammad Hamed/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Rates of caesarean section births almost doubled between 2000 and 2015 – from 12 to 21 percent worldwide - new research has found, with the life-saving surgery unavailable to many women in poor countries while often over-used in richer ones.

The research, published in The Lancet medical journal on Thursday, found that 60 percent of countries overuse C-sections and 25 percent under-use them, suggesting that recommendations for their use in cases of medical need are widely ignored.