Investigating the causes and prevalence of cesarean section among the primigravid women referred to Taleghani Hospital in Ilam, Iran

Introduction: Cesarean Section (CS) is considered one of the most common surgeries in obstetrics and gynecology; it is, also, one of the methods of termination of pregnancy. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and causes of CS among the primigravid women referred to Taleghani Hospital in Ilam located in western of Iran. Materials and methods: This was cross-sectional (descriptive) study. All primigravid women who referred to Taleghani hospital in Ilam from October 2017 to April 2018 were included in study. Of the total 1738 deliveries performed during six months, 296 cases were related to primigravid women. The questionnaire was used as the research tool; it was completed through interviewing with women who referred to Taleghani hospital for delivery and reviewing patients’ records. SPSS software version 20was applied to analayze the collected data using descriptive statistics. Results: The findings showed that 867 (49.88%) and 871 (50.12%) deliveries of the total 1738 deliveries performed during the second half of 2017, were related to multiparous and primigravid women, respectively. Among the performed vaginal deliveries and CSs, 427 (49.25%) and 296 (33.98%) cases were related to nulliparous women, respectively; the incidence rate of CS among the nulliparous women was 33.98%. The mean age of subjects was 23.64 ±4.1 and the age group of 29-30 years old had the highest frequency (75.7%). In general, the fetal factors accounted for more than 67 percent of CSs of primigravid women. Conclusion: This study showed that the CS was highly prevalent among primigravid women; the fetal factors were the most important causes of CS.