Tertius News is an AI-native newsroom: an AI model reads the linked source articles below and extracts what each outlet reported, so you can compare their coverage side by side. How this works →

Erdogan pushes for ‘natural’ births amid Turkey’s high C-section rate

Turkey's health ministry has fined and suspended more than 100 obstetrician-gynaecologists over C-section rates, part of President Erdogan's 'Decade of the Family' campaign to address falling birthrates. The country leads the OECD in C-section births, with critics pointing to time-efficiency and legal safety as reasons doctors favor the procedure.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 outlets · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Jul 11–12, 2026 Published Aug 15

Lead

Turkey's health ministry has fined more than 100 obstetrician-gynaecologists for carrying out Caesarean sections, suspending them from duty and requiring them to undergo training, according to reports from two news outlets. The action follows President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government campaign to encourage 'natural' births and address what officials describe as a record number of elective C-sections.

Coverage comparison

Both reports, from Dawn and the South China Morning Post, agree on the core facts: the health ministry fined over 100 doctors, the country has the highest rate of C-section births among OECD nations, and the government banned elective C-sections at private healthcare facilities without medical justification in April 2025.

The outlets attribute the initial report to Turkish media. Dawn's account cites BirGun newspaper and the Diken news website, while the South China Morning Post references Turkish media and medical associations. Both note that medical professionals have offered counterarguments: C-sections are more time-efficient — roughly 30 minutes versus 12 hours for a traditional delivery — and reduce the risk of legal action over complications.

Key claims

Turkey's health ministry fined over 100 obstetrician-gynaecologists for carrying out C-sections. The doctors were also suspended from duty and forced to undergo training, according to both outlets, citing Turkish media reports.
Turkey has the highest C-section rate among the OECD's 38 nations, with around 615 such procedures out of every 1,000 live births in 2023, the most recent data available, as reported by both sources.
Medical professionals said C-sections were more time-efficient for medical staff — 30 minutes versus 12 hours for a traditional delivery — and lowered the risk of legal action over complications, ensuring safety guarantees for both doctors and women, according to both outlets.
The Turkish government began a campaign to tackle falling birth rates under President Erdogan's 'Decade of the Family' initiative, which has included moves to exert greater control over how women give birth, as reported by both sources.
Erdogan's government banned elective C-sections at private healthcare facilities without medical justification in April 2025, according to both outlets.

The Antalya Chamber of Physicians said on its website that obstetricians had been "issued with warnings, subjected to disciplinary investigations, temporarily suspended from practising, and compelled to attend antenatal training courses, on the grounds of high caesarean section rates across the country," as cited by Dawn.

The Diken news website reported the case of one obstetrician working at a private hospital in Sakarya near Istanbul, who was dismissed at the health ministry's request due to a high rate of C-sections, then suspended for six months, Dawn reported.

Perspectives

Government policy

President Erdogan, a pious Muslim pushing for women to have so-called natural births, has stated an intention to address Turkey's record number of elective C-section births. The government's April 2025 ban on elective C-sections without medical justification at private healthcare facilities, along with the fines and suspensions, demonstrate an assertive policy approach. The 'Decade of the Family' initiative underpins this effort, focusing on tackling falling birthrates.

Medical professionals

Medical professionals point out that C-sections are more time-efficient — 30 minutes versus 12 hours for a traditional delivery — and lower the risk of legal action over complications. They see this as ensuring safety for both the physician and the woman. Healthcare professionals reportedly reacted with a backlash to the fines, indicating a divergence between medical practice and the government's push.

Medical associations

The Antalya Chamber of Physicians documented disciplinary actions against obstetricians, including warnings, investigations, suspensions, and mandatory training. This indicates an institutional acknowledgement of the high C-section rates but also a record of the professional penalties being applied at the request of health authorities, which some see as governmental pressure on the medical profession.

How each outlet told it

Dawn as of Jul 12, 2026, 6:00 AM UTC

Framing: Critical of government intervention in medical practices — Neutral with a hint of criticism

Facts Included:

Turkiye's health ministry fined over 100 obstetrician-gynaecologists for carrying out Caesarean sections
The country has the highest rate of C-section births among the OECD's 38 nations
Medical professionals said C-sections were more time-efficient and lowered the risk of legal action
The Turkish government began a campaign to tackle falling birthrates under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 'Decade of the Family' initiative
Erdogan's government banned elective C-sections at private healthcare facilities without medical justification in April 2025

Read the source article →

South China Morning Post as of Jul 11, 2026, 9:30 AM UTC

Framing: Report on government action against C-sections — Neutral

Facts Included:

Turkey's health ministry fined over 100 obstetrician-gynaecologists for carrying out cesarean sections
The country has the highest rate of C-section births among the OECD's 38 nations
Medical professionals said C-sections were more time-efficient and lowered the risk of legal action
The Turkish government began a campaign to tackle falling birth rates under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 'Decade of the Family' initiative
Erdogan's government banned elective C-sections at private healthcare facilities without medical justification in April 2025

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimTurkiye's health ministry fined over 100 obstetrician-gynaecologists for carrying out Caesarean sections. The doctors were also suspended from duty and forced to undergo training.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Dawn as of Jul 12, 2026, 6:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe country has the highest rate of C-section births among the OECD's 38 nations, with around 615 such procedures out of every 1,000 live births in 2023.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Dawn as of Jul 12, 2026, 6:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimMedical professionals said C-sections were more time-efficient and lowered the risk of legal action over complications.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Dawn as of Jul 12, 2026, 6:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe Turkish government began a campaign to tackle falling birthrates under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 'Decade of the Family' initiative.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Dawn as of Jul 12, 2026, 6:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimErdogan's government banned elective C-sections at private healthcare facilities without medical justification in April 2025.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Dawn as of Jul 12, 2026, 6:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 outlets · 2 articles consulted: Dawn, South China Morning Post 5 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-15