Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham is a believer and so is actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Pop stars Britney Spears and Madonna have had one, as have models Claudia Schiffer and Elizabeth Hurley. No, it's not Kabbalah that has all of Hollywood talking, but rather the new trend in child delivery, the 'take a number' Caesarean section - for non-medical reasons.

What was once a procedure carried out only in instances of dire emergency (as a last resort) has now become a growing movement among mothers-to-be. And it's not just in Hollywood that this trend is taking off, it's happening worldwide. In the April 28th edition Time magazine reported that 80 per cent of babies in Brazil are delivered by Caesarean, and here in Jamaica the numbers are increasing as elective C-sections are on the rise.

Of course there is a substantial difference between those mothers who need a Caesarean and those who opt to have one, as in the end it all comes down to basic dollars and cents. The cost of a Caesarean delivery at a private hospital such as Nuttall Memorial Hospital on Caledonia Avenue in Kingston ranges from $150,000 to $230,000, compared to the routine vaginal delivery, which including all fees, is around $80,000.

"A lot of the literature that I have read is that women should have the choice to be able to pick the mode of birth that they want," said Dr Olivia McDonald, a gyneacologist and obstetrician who practises in Kingston.

Dr McDonald admits to having some patients who have opted to have this procedure for fear of pain during natural childbirth. "Actual pain is one concern, but there are also those patients who fear because of the pain they will display abnormal behaviour during labour which is out of sync with their personality."

Whereas some doctors have clashed over the benefits and risks of vaginal births versus C-sections, Dr Lloyd Goldson, an obstetrician at the Winchester Medical Centre, has no issue with a request for a Caesarean.

"I don't think it is unethical to do a Caesarean on demand - if you can afford it then you should be able to choose it," he said.

When philanthropist and socialite Amber Stewart was pregnant with her last two children, having a C-section was the only type of delivery to consider. "I could have had a vaginal delivery, but I opted for a C-section because it worked out so nicely during the delivery of my first child, that I could not pass it up on the next two," she said.

Stewart says her doctor did not play a role in encouraging the young mother to choose a C-section for both births, and in fact it was because of her prior experience, the research she had done, and also because she knew that it was a safe procedure why she planned to give birth this way. "I went to sleep and woke up and there was this little baby - it was just so easy!" Stewart said.

Pop princess Christina Aguilera recently gave an interview to People magazine in which she told reporters that she planned the Caesarean birth of her son Max at week 37 to avoid vaginal injury, but the "too posh to push" movement was actually coined several years before, after it was reported that British celeb Victoria Beckham insisted on delivering her sons this way.

According to obstetrician Dr Douglas McDonald, vanity is a factor behind some women's decision to give birth by C-section, but for the most part women are choosing this route for the convenience.
"Whereas many years ago Caesareans may have been unsafe, these days they are now extremely safe and some women are choosing it because they just do not want to face several hours of labour," the doctor said.

New mother Laura Henzell had a Caesarean, not by choice, but because her daughter was facing distress during her 12-hour labour. Immediately after giving birth, Henzell raved to friends about the immediate ease of the C-section versus how she imagined vaginal labour.

"Having had a Caesarean, I can't lie. I have heard some horror stories about vaginal deliveries, but now that I think about it I know I would have judged myself if I had intentionally opted for a C-section, because I think it is more natural for a mother to want to bond with her child through a natural birth," she said.

Although having an elective Caesarean may sound like a glamorous procedure for those with extra cash to spare, there can be downsides. Infections and bleeding can cause complications, and research has shown that C-section babies are at a greater risk for respiratory problems because of the lack of exposure to certain hormones during the birthing process. On the medical side, better anaesthesia and antibiotics are combating these issues as they are helping to make the procedures safer.
-Kaili McDonnough

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