Private clinics in Turkey are no longer allowed to perform planned cesarean births unless they are medically necessary. Over the weekend, the Ministry of Health issued an order banning this type of operation, which caused a wave of indignation. The first protests against the new regulation have already been scheduled in Istanbul and Ankara, German public broadcaster ARD reported.
Erdogan wants more births
The Turkish government is trying to stimulate population growth and is putting enormous pressure on women to give birth, says doctor Aysegul Ates Tarla from the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) board. According to her, this suggests that women are recklessly choosing cesarean sections.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that by 2025 for the "year of the family". That is why the Ministry of Health launched a campaign against caesarean sections a few months ago, ARD recalls. The aim is to reduce the proportion of caesarean births, "to promote normal birth and maintain sustainable population growth."
While women can get pregnant again relatively quickly after a vaginal birth, a longer recovery period is often recommended after a caesarean section. According to data from the World Population Review, 584 out of 1,000 live births in Turkey were born by caesarean section, we also learn from the ARD publication.
Controversial advertising campaign with football players
The debate was further fuelled by an advertising campaign by the Ministry of Health during a match in the first Turkish football league: over the weekend, players from the elite club "Sivasspor" took to the field with a huge poster reading "Natural birth is real".
The deputy chairwoman of the largest opposition Republican People's Party, Gokce Gokcen, reacted with incomprehension: "Male footballers are telling women how to give birth. Keep your hands off women's bodies," she wrote on the X platform.