tough sell

アジアでは出産方法としてnatural birth（自然分娩）よりもcaesarean operation（帝王切開）を選択する人が増えているようです。とりわけ中国ではその割合がここ10年で2倍になっています。見出しのtough sellには「売りこむのが難しいもの」という意味から転じて「推奨するのが難しいもの」という意味があります（『プログレッシブ英和中辞典』小学館）。ここでは「（caesarean operationの波に）押されている」と解釈してみました。（Koyamamoto）

Natural birth a tough sell in China's caesarean boom
BEIJING: As an automatic piano chimed a wedding march, new mother Wang Dan walked down a red carpet towards a hospital room called the "White House", minutes after giving birth in a candlelit water pool.


The suite is adorned with an enormous rococo style sofa and a Mona Lisa portrait, and 28-year-old Wang, who gave birth to a son, said: "I wanted to stay in the White House because it's large and well decorated."


But Wang's presidentially-themed chamber at Beijing's Antai hospital -- an expensive private facility aimed at the capital's wealthy middle class -- was not the only unusual thing about the birth of her first child.

In a country where most urban professionals choose caesarean sections, she stands out for choosing to give birth naturally.


The proportion of Chinese mothers choosing caesareans more than doubled in less than a decade, from around 20 percent in 2001 to above 46 percent in 2008 -- and approaching two-thirds in cities, according to the latest World Health Organization figures for the country.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/featurenews/view/1245961/1/.html