The relationship between fetal sex and complications of labor which end in cesarean delivery at Taleghani Hospital of Arak in 2009

Mother and newborn's health is one of the important indexes in health services of every country and one of its main assessment indexes is the number of normal deliveries in each country. Identifying the effective factors in labor helps the right selection of patients the process of delivery. The main goal of this study was to assess the association between fetal sex and unsuccessful labor process which result in cesarean section. This observational cross-sectional study was conducted on 1537 pregnant women admitted for delivery to Taleghani Hospital of Arak during 6 months. Data were catch through a check list consisting of obstetric history, physical examination, labor process, and lab tests coupled with interview and observation. The results were analyzed through Chi2, chance ration analysis, and t-test. Of the 1537 pregnant women, 74% had normal delivery and 26% underwent cesarean section. Of all infants, 35.1% of those delivered by normal vaginal delivery and 13.4% of those delivered by cesarean section were male sex while 38.9% of the infants in the normal delivery group and 12.6% of those in the cesarean group were female. These results did not show any association between fetal sex and type of delivery. Overall, 36.5% of the deliveries done through cesarean section were due to dystosia (18.1% male and 18.4% female) (P=0.934). Also,14.3% of the newborns delivered through cesarean sction due to fetal distress were male and 10.8% of them were female (P=0.162) while 10.5% of newborns delivered through cesarean section due to meconium were male and 8.5% of them were male (P=0.359). It appears there is no association between fetal sex and labor disorders which result in cesarean section.