Natural Childbirth Increases

Over 1,200 babies have been born through natural delivery under the 2014 Health Reform Plan, said Mohammad Aqajani, a deputy health minister. “Promotion of natural childbirth has been on top of the Health Ministry’s agenda to reduce c-section rates in the country,” he said at the 1st International Congress on Male Infertility held November 16-18 at Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University. Iran has been trying to reduce the high rate of c-section in the country (almost 50%). Natural delivery is free of cost in all state-run hospitals, and it has seen a 10% increase vis-à-vis last year, Mehr News Agency reported.