Canada’s obesity crisis is giving birth to a new problem: an increasing number of caesarean sections among obese mothers-to-be.

A study of nearly 12,000 women who delivered over a 10-year-period at Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital found that doctors are far quicker to call for a C-section on women with higher body mass index, or BMI.

It’s not clear why, but researchers say many doctors are scared to deal with obese women. Labour can be slower, and many physicians fear that a heavier woman necessarily means a bigger baby that could get stuck in the birth canal.

C-sections more likely for obese moms