Telangana Records Highest C-Section Rate in India as Private Hospital Surgeries Rise

Telangana has emerged as the leading state in India for caesarean section (C-section) deliveries, driven primarily by high surgical birth rates in private hospitals across Hyderabad and the wider state. According to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6), Telangana's overall C-section rate stands at 62.2 percent, which is the highest in the country.

The data reveals a stark contrast between healthcare sectors. Private hospitals in Telangana reported that 83.9 percent of births were delivered via C-sections, marking an increase from the 81.5 percent recorded in the NFHS-5 (2019-21) survey. Meanwhile, government hospitals kept their surgical delivery rates below the halfway mark at 48.1 percent, up slightly from 44.5 percent in the previous survey.

While Telangana has the highest overall C-section rate in India, its private-sector rate ranks third nationally, behind Jammu and Kashmir at 90 percent and West Bengal at 87.7 percent. However, Telangana's private hospital rate remains far higher than the national private-sector average of 54.1 percent and neighboring Andhra Pradesh's private-sector average of 66.2 percent.

Health experts state that this persistent gap points to systemic issues within the healthcare system. Factors driving the high numbers in private facilities include higher revenue from surgical deliveries, the convenience of scheduling births, and counselling practices that exaggerate the risks of normal delivery. Cultural factors also influence these decisions, with families frequently opting for C-sections to align childbirth with astrologically auspicious 'muhurtam' timings.

Dr. K. Sujatha, a senior government gynaecologist, explained that high-risk pregnancies, delayed motherhood, and infertility treatments have also increased the medical necessity for some surgical births.

Angel Sudha V, a public health researcher at the Institute of Public Health (IPH) in Bengaluru, noted that the trend reflects broader issues in childbirth care delivery. She stated that studies consistently find higher C-section rates in private facilities driven by institutional practices and a greater reliance on medical interventions, which places a significant financial burden on families. Additionally, a PLOS One analysis of NFHS-5 data estimated that 8.4 percent of deliveries in Telangana involved potentially preventable C-sections.