‘More and more babies are being born in Canada via a cesarean section (C-section), a trend that worries health professionals..

Toronto  - More and more babies are being born in Canada via a cesarean section (C-section), a trend that worries health professionals.

One in four births across Canada are done by C-section– 92,799 babies a year, according to the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada.

The group says that C-sections lead to bleeding, chronic pelvic pain, scarring and other health issues.

The group is urging doctors to perform the procedure only when medically necessary.

“While the individual risk for a woman having a C-section is very small, the rising rate is certainly a concern,” society president Dr. Guylaine Lefebvre said in a release.

“We fear that there may be an emerging trend towards more scheduled childbirth and routine intervention. We need to be sure that C-sections are not driven by convenience, that interventions are medically indicated and that the safety of a woman and her baby are the driving factors in these decisions.”

Several factors are contributing to the increased usage of the procedure, including the growing population of obese mothers.  The group found that 23 percent of women childbearing age are obese.

Obese women tend to have longer labours, and to give birth to bigger babies, putting them at higher risk for a C-section, says Dr. Guylaine Lefebvre.

In 2005-06, the national C-section rate soared to 26.3 percent, up from 17.6% in 1993, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

According to the World Health Organization, C-section rates higher than 15% signals “inappropriate usage.”