I apologise in advance if I'm repeating points made by other posters - sorry, I just don't have time to read them all right now.

But I think the "name and shame" term is divisive - it inadvertently implies that women should feel ashamed if they have a caesarean and that is not helpful.

Hospitals' caesarean rates are already reported and people can do a Google search and it's not that hard to find them because hospitals have to report those rates to the Government.

I think the question should be "should caeserean rates be easily available and transparent so that women can make an informed choice." The answer to that question is of course yes.

But despite the fact that these figures are already available via the web, I don't know what a hospital's response would be if I simply rang them and asked. Maybe they would tell me, maybe they wouldn't. They should HAVE to give me the figures if I ask.

Similarly for private obstetricians, I am sure it would depend on which one you rang as to whether they would reveal their stats. It should not be up to their discretion, they should have to disclose those figures when asked.

I hate to use the jargon word "transparent" but that's what this is about.