Survey on the Prevalence and Influencing Factors for Choosing Normal Vaginal Delivery among Pregnant Women in Bushehr City, 2015

Normal vaginal delivery (NVD) is one of important events in women's life. Compared to cesarean section, it seems that NVD is a safer option associated with lower maternal and neonatal morbidities and also a more favorable emotional relationship between mother and her new born baby. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of and to find out the effective factors for choosing normal vaginal delivery among pregnant women in Bushehr city.
Material and In this cross-sectional and descriptive study, among all pregnant women refereed to the health centers in Bushehr City, 486 pregnant women were included based on strati­fied random sampling method. Data were collected using a pre-designed questionnaire during 6 months. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, Chi-square test and Logistic Regression were used for analysis of the data.
The mean age of the participants was 26.8± 5.01 years. The options of NVD and C/S were chosen by 220 (45.3%) and 200 (41%) of women respectively and 66 of women were undecided (13.4%). “Fear of labor pain” and “lower complications rate” were the most common reasons for choosing C/S and NVD, 77 (38.6%), and 114(52%) respectively. The NVD had a significant association with some factors including; husband's job (OR=0.51, p=0.01), husband's education (OR=0.19, p=0.001), previous C/S (OR=36.5, p Based on the findings of this study, a regular educational program for pregnant women and also having a meticulous attitude towards the medical indications of C/S may reduce the rate of dispensable C/S and promote of the NVD.