Influencing factors of delivery modes for pregnant women at a local community of Shanghai

Abstract

Objective To investigate the selection of dilivery of pregnant women and related factors.Methods The selection of delivery modes for pregnant women was investigated by analyzing the associated factors of the infants registered into a computerized health care managing system from January 1,2008 to December 31,2010 at a local community of Shanghai.The information associated with delivery modes of their mothers was collected and the choice of delivery modes investigated through a standardized questionnaire by interviewing the mothers at two months after birth.Results The cesarean section (C/S)rate of pregnant women residing in this local area was 58.3 ％ (224/384).In the C/S group,the percentages of delivery age ≥24 yr,white-collar workers,education level at high school and above and monthly income ≥ 3000 yuan were 73.2％ ( 164/224 ),38.4％ ( 86/224 ),79.5％ ( 178/224 ) and 80.8％ ( 181/224 )respectively.And they were all higher than those of vaginal delivery (63.1％,n =101; 32.5％,n =52;69.4％,n =111; 70.6％,n =113 ).The choices of C/S depended on the existences of maternal,fetal,social-psychological and others factors during pregnancy.Most pregnant women and families who chose C/S without medical indications were afraid of pain ( 33.9％ ) or a failure of vaginal delivery ( 30.5％ ).Conclusions The social-psychological factors of pregnant women are important in the choices of delivery modes.Unnecessary C/S could be reduced by improving their knowledge of delivery with meticulous prenatal health care consultations. Key words: Parturition; Cesarean section; Community health services