The Hillingdon Hospital's midwifery head raises c-section target concern with SHA

The baseline target is that no more than 24 per cent of babies are born this way but the trust reported that for November, December and January the rate was 27 per cent and reached 30 per cent at the start of the 2010-11 financial year.

The trust said factors thought to have affected the ratio included a high number of multiple births and mothers with a high body mass index.

Performance papers said: “There has been informal discussion at NHS London and via the Head of Midwifery meetings as to whether the baseline has been set too low, since other trusts seem also to struggle to meet this target.”