Caesarean section in the Maltese Islands.
نویسنده
چکیده
Medical advances have had a major impact on obstetrics, resulting in a marked decrease in mortality and morbidity, particularly in the last century. The reasons for this decline in maternal and perinatal deaths are many, but an increase in the incidence of Caesarean sections has been suggested as a contributory factor. The Caesarean operation has long had its opponents. Among the earliest was J. F. Sacombe (1750-1822) who founded the "Sacombe Ecole anti-Cesarienne", which had as its symbol a figure of Hercules slaying the hydra and the inscription "No more Caesarean section"'.' In spite of continuing opposition to the operation, it appears that the Caesarean hydra has not only survived Sacombe's opposition but has also developed heads which were non-existent in his day. The first Caesarean section on a live woman in Malta was performed at the end of the nineteenth century. Prior to this, all the recorded operations were post-mortem. During the last fifty years delivery by Caesarean section in the Maltese Islands has increased, and there has been a parallel improvement in maternal and perinatal mortality statistics. This study reviews the history of Caesarean section in the Maltese Islands in the light of fluctuations in the population and changes in the maternity services available. It also correlates the Caesarean section rates of the last fifty years with perinatal and obstetric statistics in an attempt to identify the contribution of delivery by section to the fall in mortality rates. For this purpose I have drawn on the obstetric statistics of the last fifty years using the biennial average starting from 1937-38, as well as data from the governmentmanaged hospitals in Malta and Gozo which is in the annual reports of the Department of Health,2 supplemented by information from the labour ward Birth and
منابع مشابه
The Impact of Changing Fluoride Concentrations in the Water Supplies in the Maltese Islands on Caries Prevalence in 12-Year-Old Maltese Schoolchildren
This paper outlines the changes in the water supply system in the Maltese Islands and in fluoride concentration and the impact that this has had on the prevalence of dental caries in 12-year-old schoolchildren. It describes how over the past decades, the Maltese Islands (which comprise two main islands, Malta and Gozo) have seen changes in the water supply system, from one purely dependent on u...
متن کاملExploring Maltese Entrepreneurs’ Perceptions of the Benefits of E-government
The Maltese government has instigated its vision of an ‘e’ infrastructure to support the islands’ Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in their efforts to meet the challenges of the new unbounded digital economy. This paper takes an early look at the perception of ‘e’ potentials amongst Maltese entrepreneurs. Although the findings depicted a generally positive attitude towards the concept ...
متن کاملReproductive performance on the Maltese Islands during the Second World War.
The Maltese Islands are a group of small islands in the central Mediterranean, of which two are inhabited. Malta had a population in 1938 of 242,885, and Gozo then had 25,783 inhabitants. The islands are small: the largest Malta, is 94-87 square miles in area, and Gozo, 26-97 square miles.1 The islands were not occupied during the Second World War, but they were subjected to ferocious bombings ...
متن کاملSocial predictors of caesarean section births in Italy.
BACKGROUND Caesarean section birth is a frequent mode of delivery worldwide. Several social factors have been demonstrated to be strong predictors of caesarean births. OBJECTIVES To identify possible social predictors of caesarean section births in Italy. METHODS Data for this study were drawn from the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) survey conducted during year 2005 which comprised...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Medical History
دوره 37 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 1993