Abstract
Introduction: Episiotomy is one of the most common procedures in obstetrics; defined as perineum enlargement incision during the second stage of labor to increase the diameter of vaginal outlet to facilitate baby birth. Restrictive episiotomy involves performing an episiotomy only when there is an indication. The 2018 WHO episiotomy policy recommend to avoid routine or liberal use of episiotomy for women undergoing spontaneous vaginal birth. However, high prevalence of episiotomy are reported in developing countries and there is limited assessments in the study area. Methods: Cross sectional study design was employed to assess the prevalence and determinants of episiotomy in St.Paul’s Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study included all vaginal deliveries from July- June2016 in the hospital. Medical charts for 344 deliveries in the selected period were reviewed for analysis. Systematic sampling was followed to employ study participants. Data were cleaned and analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 for Windows. Means, Percentages and Ratios were be calculated and cross tabulation used to compare different variables and subjected to Chi-square analysis to assess various relationships with a significance level of P < 0.05. Result: A total of 344 women who had a vaginal delivery were included in the study. The age of the women ranges from 18-40 years, with the mean age of 25.53 (SD± 4.601) years. The prevalence of episiotomy was 41.9%. Binary logistics analysis showed statistically significance relationship between practice of episiotomy with parity (P<0.001) and place of ANC follow up (P=0.019), with duration of second stage of labour (P=0.001) and weight of the new born (P<0.001). Conclusion: The study indicated high prevalence of episiotomy practice compared to the WHO recommended restrictive practice. Guidelines and evaluation of the practice has to be in place to improve the safe practice of episiotomy in the institution. DOI: 10.7176/JMPB/69-02 Publication date: March 31 st 2021
Highlights
Episiotomy is one of the most common procedures in obstetrics; defined as perineum enlargement incision during the second stage of labor to increase the diameter of vaginal outlet to facilitate baby birth
Studies in Ethiopia depicted 42% prevalence in the norther (14) and 35.2% in Addis Ababa selected public health facilities(15).These findings indicated that, in developing countries like Ethiopia, the prevalence of episiotomy is very high compared to the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended rate of 10%
The study showed that the prevalence of episiotomy practice among women who give vaginal birth was 144 (41.9%) which is closer when compared with research done at Addis Ababa Tikur Anbessa Hospital, at public health institutions of Axum Town, in Fatemieh Teaching hospital that depicted 40.2%, 41.44% and 41.5% respectively (18)(14)(19)
Summary
Episiotomy is one of the most common procedures in obstetrics; defined as perineum enlargement incision during the second stage of labor to increase the diameter of vaginal outlet to facilitate baby birth. High prevalence of episiotomy are reported in developing countries and there is limited assessments in the study area. Binary logistics analysis showed statistically significance relationship between practice of episiotomy with parity (P
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
