The Caesarean section rate at the National Maternity Hospital has risen for the ninth consecutive year, according to the hospital's latest annual report.
Some 18.3 per cent of all deliveries at the hospital are now by Caesarean section.
The master of the hospital, Dr Michael Robson, writing in the hospital's 2005 annual report that has just been published, says "this, together with a high induction rate, cannot be left unchallenged".
He said yesterday that Caesarean sections were carried out on women for different reasons and these were outlined in the report. For example, rates among second-time mothers who previously had a section were as high as 56 per cent last year. They were also higher among women who had been induced, he said.
Dr Robson said the hospital's perinatal mortality rate was very low but the cost may be rising Caesarean section rates. It was important to keep an eye on the balance between the two, he said. He added that the hospital's Caesarean section rate was probably lower than in many other hospitals and was low by international standards.
The report also states that the decision to introduce a cap on the number of deliveries at the hospital last summer resulted in a drop in the overall number of babies born there last year. Some 7,493 women gave birth to 7,608 infants at the hospital in 2005, down from 8,318 giving birth there in 2004.
"There were many days when we delivered 34 babies in 24 hours and, although there were quiet days as well, we will always need the infrastructure and resources to deal with those busy days," he said.
There are no plans to put a cap on the number of deliveries at the hospital this summer.
Meanwhile the report states that last year was "very difficult from a financial perspective" for the hospital and there was no progress during the year on the hospital's long-term aim of co-locating with St Vincent's Hospital.