Expectant mothers will be able to request a caesarean section in case of risk factors
Considering the public initiative and upon consulting professional obstetrician-gynaecologists, the Ministry of Health (MH) enabled to choose a caesarean section instead of natural birth in case of reproductive function disorders or in the presence of certain risk factors.
Caesarean section is recommended only in case of medical indications, when giving birth naturally could pose a risk to the life of the mother or the foetus, and, when upon considering all possible risks, medics see caesarean section as a safer alternative.
Considering patient requests and seeking to ensure their right to choose their health services for themselves, the MH has increased the list of indications, under which a C-section surgery could be performed instead of natural birth.
The order of the Minister of Health, which came into force on 28 October, established a possibility to choose a C-section surgery without medical indications under the following two conditions:
- there is a relative medical indication for caesarean section surgery (for example, if the patient has or has had reproductive function or childbirth disorders, is giving birth for the first time at an older age, has social risk factors or other increased risk factors);
- a decision was made by a multidisciplinary team of medical specialists together with an informed patient that the said conditions have been fulfilled and the patient can undergo a caesarean section at her request.
To consult a possibility of a C-section surgery in the absence of medical indications, patients should consult an obstetrician-gynaecologist at the medical institution that performs caesarean sections sometime between 22nd-37th week of pregnancy. The doctor will inform the patient of the medical and conditional indications of this surgery, the course, possible benefits and risks, advantages and disadvantages of a C-section and natural childbirth, the effect of C-section on the next pregnancy and the aspects of childbirth with a scar on the uterus, as well as the consequences of C-section operation for the mother and the new-born, and possible complications in the future.
It should be noted that if a C-section surgery is performed with no medical indications, but at the request of the expectant mother, this will not be regarded as an event, covered by the compulsory health insurance and thus patients will have to cover the personal healthcare services, needed for this decision (consultations, testing, etc.) and the surgery itself by themselves. The conditions and price for the services will have to be indicated in the agreement between the patient and the personal healthcare facility.
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Press Service of the Ministry of Health
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Last updated: 16-01-2023
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