A survey of the growing trend of caesarian section in Iran and the world: a review article

The rate of cesarean section is increasing in developing and developed countries. Due to the probability of side-effects of cesarean and the importance of knowing the growing trend of this type of delivery, this study was performed with aim to survey the trend of caesarian section in Iran and the world in different studies.
In this review article, data was collected through databases of PubMed, Science Direct, CINAHL, SID, Iranmedex, Magiran, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus using the keywords of Cesarean Section Rate, caesarian section prevalence, delivery, childhood, relative causes, relative frequency. Time duration for article's selection was 1990 to 2015. Eventually, 45 articles were included in the study.
Worldwide, the rate of cesarean increased from 6.7% in 1990 to 19.1% in 2014, which represents a 12.4% increase. Cesarean rates increased 14.6 % in developing countries and 12.7% in developed countries. The cesarean rate in the United States increased from 20.7% in 1996 to 32.8 % in 2011. In Iran, the caesarean rate increased from 16% in 1985 to 60% in 2013.
Current rate of cesarean section, except for less developed countries, is consistently increasing and is higher than what is considered medically justifiable. The steep increase and inappropriate rate of caesarean section represents a health problem in Iran and requires the attention of government officials. Since there are numerous factors about the need for caesarean section, various strategies including mother-friendly hospitals, development of standard protocols; preparation classes for mothers, midwives, and gynecologists, and workshops for specialists and midwives should be considered to avoid unnecessary use of this method.