This concern may arise when the mother becomes ill, or when the conditions inside the womb become unhealthy for the baby.

One reason why there has been an increase in the number of C/S is the success of intensive care in saving the lives of premature and very low birth weight babies. This means that doctors are more likely to perform a C/S for premature labour (labour that starts too early), cases of severe pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure in pregnancy) or where there are problems with the baby`s growth and development.

There has also been publicity that the increasing rate of caesarean births is due to the fact that this operation is now seen as a consumer `choice` - where some women choose to opt for one where there are no obvious medical reasons. Little research has been carried out on the actual numbers of women requesting caesarean section but evidence suggests that women who request it are more likely to have had a previous caesarean and/or wish to avoid a difficult situation in their next pregnancy.
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