WOMEN giving birth in Winchester are more likely to have a Caesarean section than their counterparts across Hampshire.

Figures show more than one in four of the 2,661 deliveries at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital (RHCH) were by the surgical procedure in 2009/10.

There are large variations between hospital trusts, according to a study compiled by NHS Hampshire.

Health bosses said: “This is not reflective of the population need or in the best interests of women and their babies.”

While 25.7 per cent of deliveries were Caesareans at the RHCH, the figure for Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital was just 14.5 per cent.

In Southampton, 21.5 per cent of births at Princess Anne Hospital were by Caesarean section, which is lower than the national average 24.8 per cent.

Forty per cent of Caesarean sections are planned while 60 per cent are emergencies.

Managers at Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the RHCH, say the figure is falling as they are clamping down on numbers of ‘elective’ Caesareans.

This is when women opt for surgery rather than a natural birth.

Now there has to be a concrete medical reason for every Caesarean section.

The aim of the NHS Hampshire report was to assess maternity needs and help shape future services.

Head of midwifery Janie Pearman denied women in Winchester are “too posh to push.”

She said the high figure also reflected women giving birth in Winchester are on average older and may have underlying health problems.

Ms Pearman said safety was most important and getting a “good outcome which is a healthy fit mum and baby.”

The statistics also revealed that the average midwife in the South Central Strategic Health Authority region now oversees 35 births a year.

This is well in excess of the guidelines that recommend 29.5.

In Winchester and Southampton hospitals, the ratio of midwives to births was one to 33.

Other findings include:

• Women in Hampshire have on average 2.02 children, up on 1.99 children in 2008.

• Only 3.4 per cent gave birth at home. Home birth rates varied between trusts with Winchester at the highest (6.1 per cent) and Gosport lowest (1.9 per cent).

• The average age for giving birth in Hampshire was 29 in 2009.