Cesarean section and related factors in governmental and private hospitals of Isfahan

Increasing rate of cesarean and its related higher rate of short term and long term complications comparing with normal delivery, made it as an important public health issue. The goal of this research was to study the prevalence and the causes of cesarean in order to plan appropriate strategies to reduce its unnecessary cases in our community. 360 women among all of the women who had delivered in four governmental and four private hospitals in Isfahan (in one year period) were chosen accidentally. The related check list was completed according to the recorded data of the hospital files of patients 73.6% of the mothers experienced cesarean and 26.4% had normal delivery. Cesarean delivery to normal vaginal delivery ratio was 2.8/1. Most cesarean cases were among mothers who delivered their first babies and those were in 25-29 years old age group. The rate of cesarean was higher in private hospitals. The most common reasons for cesarean were previous cesarean, hard delivery, breech position, elective cesarean and fetal distress. Considering the high rate of cesarean in the chosen hospitals in Isfahan (73.6%) and comparing it with the average rate in the whole Isfahan state (59.5%), planning to reduce the high rate of this procedure is necessary. The goal could be achieved by improve the awareness of women and their husbands as well, about delivery methods. It is suggested that the education would be more effective if it implemented in women delivering their first babies.