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Normal deliveries are declining and C-section deliveries remain high at the Government Hospital for Women and Children at Kottaparamba in Kozhikode City, Keralam.
According to the Health department, there were a total of 5,201 deliveries (2,729 normal and 2,472 C-section) in 2020-21. This number came down to 2,238 (1,387 normal and 851 C-section) in 2025-26. A large number of people from the urban areas of Kozhikode are dependant on this hospital.
The data also reveal that between 2020-21 and 2022-23, a high number of deliveries were in the C-section category. In 2020-21, of the 5,201 deliveries, 2,472 were C-section; in 2021-22, of the 3,552 deliveries, 1,841 were C-section; and in 2022-23, of the 2,205 deliveries, 1,148 were C-section.
Though there were fewer C-section deliveries between 2023-24 and 2025-26, the percentage remained higher than the ideal population-level rate, between 10% and 15%, as suggested by the World Health Organisation. It is even higher than the national average of 21.5%, claims Satheesh Parannur, chairman of the Kozhikode-based rights organisation, Pouravakasha Samrakshana Samithi, who gathered the data through a Right to Information Act (RTI) query.
Mr. Parannur says that between 2020-21 and 2023-24, the number of total deliveries came down by 61% from 5,201 to 2,019. Though this number slightly went up to 2,238 in 2025-26, it was fewer than what was reported in 2020.
The RTI data show that in-patient admission dropped from 8,315 to 4,683 between 2020-21 and 2023-24. The next year, 5,089 people were admitted. The number again dropped to 4,838 in 2025-26. Meanwhile, a high number of people are seeking outpatient (OP) treatment. In 2020-21, a total of 81,329 people sought OP treatment and in 2024-25, this went up to 1,55,257 and slightly declined to 1,50,305 in 2025-26.
Inquiry sought
Mr. Parannur claims that though a large number of people could be approaching the hospital for medical check-up and medicines, at least some are not willing to get admitted there for deliveries. He says the Health department should conduct a detailed inquiry into the decline in the number of deliveries and IP admission.
Meanwhile, a government gynaecologist, who does not wish to be quoted, says a high number of deliveries were reported at the Kottaparamba hospital during the 2020-22 pandemic period possibly because many other government hospitals, including the medical college hospital, catered to only COVID patients.
After the pandemic period, the numbers naturally fell, she says. “There is no alarming rise in C-section deliveries during the period as well because most of those who underwent the procedure had already had their first delivery using that method. For example, 171 deliveries were reported at Kottaparamba in May 2026, of which 57 were in the C-section category. However, 33 of them had their first delivery using the same procedure. So obviously, the second delivery had to be performed in a similar method,” she says. The gynaecologist also points out that the number of total deliveries at the medical college hospital in May was just 664.
V.K. Rajeevan, superintendent at the hospital, says the decline is part of a Statewide trend seen in both government and private hospitals. He says that the number has come down by around 20% to 30% over the years. “Both the age of marriage of couples and the female age of marriage have gone up. People from many educated families now have either only a single child or are averse to having a child. Some others are postponing deliveries. A few are preferring private hospitals over government hospitals too,” he says.
Published – August 20, 2026 03:43 pm IST
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