Caesarean section and its determinants: a hospital based cross-sectional study

Background: The rapid rise in CS rate has become a serious public health issue now-a-days because unnecessary caesareans generate higher expenditure at individual and national levels and have the potential to divert human and financial resources from higher priority intervention. Therefore the present study was carried out to know the indications and determinants of caesarean births in a tertiary hospital of Odisha.Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted among women who delivered by caesarean section in O and G department of MKCG Medical College Hospital, Berhampur from July to October 2016 using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. The data was analysed using appropriate statistical tests such as proportion, chi square test using SPSS software. P value of less than 0.05 is considered as statistically significant.Results: Premature rupture of membrane with oligohydramnias was the major indication in 31.4% cases followed by previous CS in 20.1% cases. Out of socio-demographic factors age (P value = 0.001) and educational status of women (P value= 0.042) were significantly associated with type of CS. Foetal presentation (P value= 0.003), interval between labour and CS (P value <0.01) and type of admission (P value = 0.05) were major obstetric determinants of CS.Conclusions: In order to safeguard the health of mother and child from effects of unnecessary caesarean births, regular antenatal checkups, proper birth preparedness along with timely diagnosis and management of complications is necessary.