Normal deliveries decline as C-section rates rise — Report

Figures from the Civil Registration Services indicate that 2021 and 2022 recorded the highest numbers of registered births

Facility-based deliveries over the five-year period between 2021 and 2025 recorded a marginal decline of 0.4 per cent, dropping to 1,203,726 in 2025.

In contrast, Caesarean Section (CS) deliveries rose by 9.9 per cent to 242,356, signalling a gradual shift towards more medically assisted childbirth.

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), contained in the 2026 Economic Survey, shows that facility-based deliveries stood at 1,242,996 in 2021.

The number rose slightly to 1,250,182 in 2022 before easing to 1,248,243 in 2023. It then declined more sharply to 1,208,604 in 2024 and further to 1,203,726 in 2025.

Within the same period, normal deliveries declined by 2.8 per cent, translating to a drop of 76,094 cases, while Caesarean Section deliveries increased by 40,863.

Normal deliveries stood at 1,024,798 in 2021 and rose marginally to 1,024,882 in 2022.

The figure then declined to 1,015,185 in 2023 before dropping further to 975,999 in 2024 and 948,704 in 2025.

By contrast, CS deliveries showed a steady upward trajectory throughout the review period, rising from 201,493 in 2021 to 211,314 in 2022.

The numbers increased further to 219,112 in 2023 and 220,480 in 2024, before surging to 242,356 in 2025.

During the same period, breech deliveries—where a baby is born with the feet or buttocks first—declined by 2.6 per cent, from 9,684 in 2021 to 8,171 in 2025.

Assisted vaginal deliveries, which involve the use of instruments such as forceps or vacuum devices, dropped 36 per cent over the period, moving from 7,021 in 2021 to 4,495 in 2025.

Covid-19 baby boom

A further analysis of birth registration data between 2021 and 2025 suggests that the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, marked by prolonged lockdowns, may have created conditions conducive for higher birth rates.

Figures from the Civil Registration Services indicate that 2021 and 2022 recorded the highest numbers of registered births, both within and outside health facilities, during the period under review.

In 2021, a total of 1,200,190 births were registered, with 97.8 per cent occurring in health facilities and 2.2 per cent in community settings.

The number rose to 1,221,444 in 2022, with 99 per cent of births taking place in health facilities.

Following the pandemic period, registered births declined to 1,192,884 in 2023 and further to 1,110,563 in 2024, before rising slightly to 1,144,847 in 2025.

Across the three-year post-Covid period, an average of 98.6 per cent of registered births occurred in health facilities, underscoring the continued dominance of facility-based deliveries in the country.