A Survey on Selection of Delivery Method by Nulliparous Pregnant Women using Health Belief Model in Semirom, Iran, 2012

Nowadays، the rate of cesarean section is more than recommended rate by world health organization. One of the reasons is women’s preference for cesarean section. The aim of this study is investigating the selection of delivery method by nulliparous pregnant women using health belief model. This cross sectional study was conducted on 104 nulliparous women who were referred for prenatal cares to health care center of Semirom، Iran، 2012. Census method was used for sampling. Data were collected by a questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS software version 16، chi-square and ANOVA tests. P value less than 0. 05 was considered significant. Among 104 studied women، 74 cases (71. 1%) had normal vaginal delivery and 30 cases (28. 8%) had cesarean delivery. The mean of age was significantly more in cesarean group than vaginal delivery group (p<0. 05). There were no significant differences between two groups in term of economic and social condition، job، age of marriage، education level، knowledge (p>0. 05). In health belief model constructs، perceived self efficacy (p=0. 002) and perceived barriers (p=0. 001) had significant differences in two groups. But no significant difference was observed in perceived susceptibility، perceived severity and perceived benefits in two groups (p>0. 05). In order to modifying pregnant perceptions about delivery mode and reducing cesarean rate، appropriate educational programs should be developed for pregnant women، especially with health belief model.