Targeting doctors and hospitals is an unproductive ‘solution’ for unnecessary C-sections – it is time we enlisted them as partners

This was published in The Swaddle on October 1 2017. Here is the link and below is an extract:

The government, having already displayed interest in addressing this issue, must arrive at an evolving strategy through a general consensus of patient advocates, doctors, nurses and midwives, public health experts, and social workers. It could begin such a process by picking the brains of those doctors and hospitals which have already made great strides in reducing their C-section rates. It might be more tempting for politicians to be seen ‘doing something’ by making sure the ‘bad guys’ are punished — but leaders must rise above that. The general public, for its part, can help by ensuring that public opinion focuses on constructive and sustainable solutions instead of divisive and polarizing claims and blames. The objective of improved and enriched maternal and child health can be best achieved if activists and politicians abandon their default attitude of suspicion, and acknowledge doctors as equal partners; and if doctors abandon their default stance of superiority, and value the participation of non-medical groups in medical decision-making