Turkey’s Health Ministry has imposed disciplinary measures on more than 100 obstetricians and gynecologists over high Caesarean-section rates, including warnings, temporary suspensions and mandatory training, the BirGün newspaper reported Saturday.
Turkey has the highest C-section rate among the OECD’s 38 member countries. The latest available figures show that Caesarean deliveries accounted for about 61 percent of births in 2023.
Doctors and medical associations say the high rate reflects structural problems in Turkey’s healthcare system, including heavy workloads, insufficient time for labor monitoring and fears of malpractice claims when complications occur during natural delivery.
The government has sought to reduce medically unnecessary C-sections as part of a wider campaign promoting vaginal birth and responding to Turkey’s falling fertility rate.
A regulation introduced in April 2025 barred medical centers from carrying out planned C-sections without a medical indication. The restriction applied to medical centers rather than all private hospitals, as some initial reports suggested.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly encouraged families to have more children, while the government designated 2025 as the “Year of the Family” and launched a longer-term family policy initiative.
BirGün, citing information from medical associations around the country, said more than 100 doctors had faced penalties linked to their C-section rates.
The Antalya Chamber of Physicians said obstetricians had received warnings, faced disciplinary investigations, been temporarily suspended from practicing and been required to attend antenatal training because of high C-section rates.
The Diken news website reported that an obstetrician at a private hospital in the northwestern province of Sakarya was dismissed at the ministry’s request and suspended from practicing for six months.
The doctor was required to undergo training at a public hospital and pass an examination before being allowed to return to work, according to the report.
Dr. Ayşe Gültekingil, an official with the Turkish Medical Association, told BirGün that punishing individual doctors would not resolve what she described as a structural problem.
“Turkey’s Caesarean birth rate exceeds 60 percent. But the method of delivery reflects various problems within Turkey’s healthcare system,” she said.
Medical groups argue that decisions about the method of delivery should be based on the health and informed consent of the pregnant woman, in consultation with her doctor, rather than numerical targets imposed on physicians.
© Agence France-Presse