Births by cesarean in Georgia are three times higher than world norm

According to the Social Service Agency of Georgia, the country’s share of cesarean sections remains unchanged, having reached 44.4 per cent in 2017.

According to The World Health Organization (WHO), the recommended number of cesarean sections per country should remain under 15 per cent. However, in Georgia this indicator exceeds the norm by almost three times, while it averages 11 per cent elsewhere in Europe.

Since 1 March 2017 the Social Service Agency has limited the number of service providers to five maternity hospitals, having fined 17 institutions. The reason for this was failure to fulfill contractual conditions for reducing the number of cesarean sections.

The Social Service Agency noted a reduction in the number of cesarean sections in the country’s rural areas, which cannot be said of the country’s largest cities, Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi. It is also known that the service will only be allowed at clinics which provide 750 births (or more) per year.

The service has been suspended for institutions in which more than 500 cesarean sections were performed over a period of 12 months. These are:

Natury Patarkatsishvili Clinic, Golden Fleece-XXI, First Hospital, St. Ioakim and Ana Partiarchy of Georgia Medical Center and Tbilisi Ivan Bokeria Referral Hospital.

Fined clinics:

Gera, Chachava Clinic, Imedi, Brothers, Baiebi, David Davarashvili’s Clinic, Unimedi, Yashvili Children’s Central Hospital, Gudushauri National Medical Centre, New Maternity Centre, Leri Khonelidze Clinic, the Gldani branch of MedCapital, and the First and Second Maternity Hospitals of Kutaisi.