Elective caesarean section at the Federal Medical Centre Makurdi, North Central Nigeria

Abstract

Elective caesarean section is associated with less risk of adverse events compared to emergency caesarean section. Paradoxically, emergency caesarean deliveries continue to form the bulk of caesarean deliveries in our facility. The aim of this study is to determine the caesarean section rate, ascertain the trend of elective caesarean section, indications for elective caesarean section and elective caesarean mortality. A retrospective analysis of the clinical records of all patients that had caesarean section between January 2004 and December 2006 at the Federal Medical Centre Makurdi was conducted. There were 4011 deliveries with 420 caesarean sections during the review period giving a caesarean section rate of 10.5%. The elective caesarean sections accounted for 69(16.4%) while emergency caesarean sections accounted for 351(83.6%) of all caesarean sections. The rate of elective caesarean section increased from 10.3% in 2004 to 22.8% in 2006 of all caesarean sections. Two or more previous caesarean sections were the commonest indication for elective caesarean section accounting for 23.2% of cases, followed by HIV infection in pregnancy accounting for 21.7% of cases. No maternal death occurred with elective caesarean section. There is a rising trend of elective caesarean section presently accounting for 1 out of every 6 caesarean sections in the centre. The commonest indication for elective caesarean section was two or more caesarean sections, followed by retroviral disease in pregnancy. Elective caesarean section remains safer than emergency caesarean section in our facility.