THE ROLE OF REPRODUCTIVE AGEING IN THE INCREASE IN CAESAREAN BIRTHS IN CZECHIA

The study explores trends in the field of obstetrics in Czechia in the context of fertility postponement and attempts to identify whether and to what extent the increase in caesarean section (CS) births can be attributed to increasing maternal age and to what extent other factors play a role. The study examines the incidence of CS births using data published by the Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic (IHIS CR), and the detailed analysis employs anonymous individual data extracted from the National Health Information System in 2018 that cover maternal age and other characteristics relating to both mothers and newborns in Czechia. The analysis revealed that the increase in the total share of CS births between 1994 and 2018 was due both to the expansion of CS in all age groups and the change in the age structure of mothers, which accounted for 22% of the increase in the overall CS rate.