Turkey fines over 100 doctors for C-sections, report says

Turkey's health ministry has fined more than 100 obstetrician-gynaecologists over Caesarean sections, suspended them from duty and required them to undergo training, BirGun newspaper reported on Saturday.

The newspaper cited figures provided by medical associations across Turkey. The Antalya Chamber of Physicians said on its website that obstetricians had received warnings, faced disciplinary investigations, been temporarily suspended from practising and been compelled to attend antenatal training courses because of high Caesarean section rates.

Turkey had the highest rate of C-section births among the OECD's 38 countries in the latest available data from 2023, with about 615 such procedures per 1,000 live births.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government began a campaign last year to address falling birthrates and the high number of elective C-sections. In April 2025, Turkey banned Caesarean deliveries at private healthcare facilities without medical justification.

Dr Ayse Gultekingil, a senior official at the Turkish Medical Association, told BirGun that punishing doctors would not solve Turkey's high Caesarean rate, which she described as structural.