Promotion of Normal Vaginal Delivery Among Primigravidae: An Application of Social Marketing in the Field of Health

In Iran the rate of Cesarean section is reported to be 48%, which is higher than the acceptable rate recommended by WHO (15%). This study was conducted to determine the effect of an intervention based on social marketing on the reduction of intention to choose Cesarean section by primigravidae in Boyer-Ahmad County, Iran in 2015.
In this field trial 39 primigravidae three to four months pregnant who had an intention to choose Cesarean section for delivery participated. A formative research (a quantitative survey and a qualitative study) was done to achieve the social marketing mix, and based on the results a tailored intervention was designed and pretested on the subjects. The final intervention was implemented for a period of one month and its effectiveness assessed after at least one month by a proportion test.
The average age of the women was 25.82 years. The proportion of the women with a high school (or lower) and university education was 38.5% and 61.5%, respectively. One month after the intervention thirty of the pregnant women expressed willingness and intention to have a normal delivery, which was a statistically significant change (p=0.01).
An educational intervention based on the consumer-oriented social marketing theory can be effective in designing, implementing and evaluating a program aiming at reducing Cesarean section intention.