Switzerland: 30% more births on weekdays
Keystone-SDA
Fridays are the preferred day for babies to be born in Switzerland, according to a report by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) published on Monday. Sundays are the least popular.
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In 2023, 79,200 births took place in Swiss hospitals. On average, 237 babies were born each weekday, compared with 181 on weekends. Friday was the day with the highest number of births (16% of the total), while Sunday had the lowest birth rate (11%).
This distribution highlights the practices that influence the timing of births, in particular primary caesarean sections, 94% of which were scheduled during the week, and induction of labour. In 2023, according to the FSO, there were 14,626 primary caesarean sections and 21,342 induction of labour, for a total of 79,200 births.
+ Birth rate in Switzerland hits all-time low
In hospitals, more women in labour are admitted, more babies are delivered and more babies are born on weekdays than on Saturdays and Sundays. This is not the case in birthing centres: the 1,600 births that took place there in 2023 were evenly spread over the week, with a difference of less than 11% between the day with the most births (Thursday) and the fewest (Wednesday).
In 2023, two-thirds of births were by vaginal delivery and one-third by caesarean section. There were more planned primary caesarean sections (55%) than secondary caesarean sections (45%). The overall caesarean section rate increased slightly from 2019, reaching 34% in 2023. This figure places Switzerland alongside Italy as one of the European countries with the highest caesarean section rates.
+ Swiss Caesarean births still among highest in Europe
For the 64,573 unscheduled caesarean deliveries, labour was induced artificially in 33% of cases, compared with 26% ten years earlier. Women who went into labour naturally were more likely to give birth vaginally, without instrumental assistance (71%), than those whose labour was induced artificially (62%). Induction of labour was 30% more common on weekdays than at weekends.
The rate of labour induction increases with the size of the maternity unit: it is 30% in basic care hospitals, 32% in hospitals with centralised care and 42% in university hospitals. The French- and Italian-speaking cantons had the highest induction rates, reaching 50% in Geneva. In Central Switzerland and Graubünden, fewer than 22% of births were induced.
In 2023, 50% of births took place under epidural anaesthesia, compared with 38% in 2014. Women whose labour was induced more frequently received an epidural (in 66% of cases) than those whose labour was not induced (43%).
Translated from French by DeepL/ts
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