Some hospitals are banning caesarean sections which are popular with stars like Angelina Jolie, seen pictured in 2008 with partner Brad Pitt while pregnant with twins Knox and Vivienne(dailymail.co.uk) |
Cash-strapped hospitals are banning hundreds of women from having a caesarean birth, it emerged today. A number of NHS trusts have said they will only give the go-ahead for a c-section if the woman’s health would be put at risk by a natural birth. They have launched the crackdown on women who are ‘too posh to push’ – saying it wastes millions of pounds of NHS money every year. Most hospitals already discourage women from having c-sections by outlining the potential risks to both mother and baby. But now some trusts are going further by ruling them out on financial rather than medical grounds – meaning it will be even harder for women to get a caesarean on the Health Service. Some mothers have attacked the restrictions, saying it should be a woman’s right to choose how their baby is born. One quarter of all births in the UK are now by caesarean section, up from just 9 percent in 1980, despite a campaign by the World Health Organisation which believes there is no justification for any country having a rate exceeding 15 percent. A planned caesarean costs around £2,600 – much more than the £1,200 cost of a natural birth without complications; taking money from strained NHS budgets away from other priorities such as heart disease and cancer. Economists estimate that a drop of 1 percent in the proportion of women having the surgery would save the NHS some £5.6million a year. Dr Michael Dixon, chairman of the NHS Alliance, which represents GPs who run health service budgets, said: ‘We are going to need to balance all sorts of things in future, from cancer to heart disease. When it comes to treatments we may need to spend less on, that [caesareans] may be one.’ The bans only affect planned caesareans, not c-sections which are carried out for emergency reasons. And if a natural birth would pose a health risk for mother or baby, a c-section would be allowed. Health experts have long argued that women should go for a natural birth because the risks are lower. A birth by c-section increases a baby’s chance of breathing difficulties, and mothers may find it harder to bond with a child while recovering from a major operation. They can also suffer potentially fatal placenta problems. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies)
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有消息稱,由于醫(yī)院資金緊張,英國成百上千位孕婦被禁止剖腹產(chǎn)子。 英國國民衛(wèi)生服務(wù)體系(NHS)基金會所轄的多家醫(yī)療機構(gòu)表示,只有當孕婦順產(chǎn)面臨危險時,才會允許剖腹產(chǎn)。 這對那些號稱“分娩用力不時髦”的孕婦們是個不小的打擊。據(jù)稱,剖腹產(chǎn)每年會浪費掉NHS上百萬英鎊的資金。 大多數(shù)醫(yī)院已經(jīng)勸孕婦們不要進行剖腹產(chǎn),向她們描繪出剖腹產(chǎn)對母嬰的潛在風險。 但如今,不少基金會成員醫(yī)院出于經(jīng)濟原因,而不是醫(yī)療原因下了剖腹產(chǎn)禁令,這意味著英國女性想在NHS體系內(nèi)進行剖腹產(chǎn)更困難了。 一些媽媽們抨擊了這一禁令,稱怎么生寶寶是女人的權(quán)利。 英國剖腹產(chǎn)的比例目前是四分之一,而1980年這一比例僅有9%。世界衛(wèi)生組織發(fā)起的一項活動稱,任何國家的剖腹產(chǎn)率高于15%都是不合理的。 一次有計劃的剖腹產(chǎn)費用大約在2600英鎊左右,而順產(chǎn)只需1200英鎊,要低得多,而且不會引起并發(fā)癥。NHS的預(yù)算本來就捉襟見肘,錢應(yīng)該優(yōu)先用于治療心臟病、癌癥等疾病。 經(jīng)濟學家估計,剖腹產(chǎn)率每下降1個百分點,NHS每年就可以節(jié)省560萬英鎊。 NHS聯(lián)盟(代表執(zhí)行醫(yī)療預(yù)算的全科醫(yī)生)主席、邁克爾?迪克遜博士說:“未來我們需要平衡從癌癥到心臟病治療等各項醫(yī)療經(jīng)費。涉及到治療,我們要少花點兒了,剖腹產(chǎn)可能就是其中之一?!?/p> 該禁令只針對有計劃的剖腹產(chǎn),緊急實行的剖腹產(chǎn)不在此列。如果順產(chǎn)會威脅母嬰健康,允許進行剖腹產(chǎn)。 健康專家們一直都認為,孕婦應(yīng)該首選順產(chǎn),因為風險更低。剖腹產(chǎn)會增加寶寶呼吸困難的機率,而在術(shù)后康復(fù)的過程中,媽媽也會發(fā)現(xiàn)更難和孩子親近起來。孕婦還可能遇到致命的胎盤問題。 相關(guān)閱讀 (中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 實習生沈清 編輯:Julie) |
Vocabulary: cash-strapped: 缺乏現(xiàn)金的;沒有足夠資本的 go-ahead: permission to proceed(放行信號) posh: smart, elegant, or fashionable; exclusive(時髦的,漂亮的) caesarean:剖腹產(chǎn),下文中的c-section是Caesarean section(剖腹產(chǎn))的縮寫 complication: a secondary disease, an accident, or a negative reaction occurring during the course of an illness and usually aggravating the illness(并發(fā)癥) GP: general practitioner(全科醫(yī)生) placenta: 胎盤 |