Abstract:

Background: Caesarean section has been part of human culture since ancient times. It is believed to be found by the Apollo who cut his wife Coronis abdomen during the birth of Asclepius around 1550’s. In recent years the rates of caesarean section have been increasing in developed and developing countries with different factors leading to it According to WHO guidelines, no region is justified for having the rate of C- section more than 10- 15%. Despite these WHO guidelines, studies show that the rates of caesarean section are high in both developed and developing countries.

Objective: This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors that influence high number of women to choose caesarean section over vaginal delivery.

Methods: A concurrent mixed methods approach was used in this study, which involved pregnant and postpartum women attending at BMC Mwanza, This was a cross-sectional, analytical hospital-based study that will apply quantitative approach. No follow up that was required and data was collected at one point in a time. The study was done between May 2024 and September 2024, taking a total of 5 months to complete. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 in which descriptive analysis was used for frequency distribution of social demographic and logistic regression model was used. A variable was considered to be statistically significant in the final model by 95% confidence interval and a p- value of less than < 0.05.

Results: A total of 316 pregnant women and postpartum women participated in this study. The finding showed that prevalence of caesarean section to be 25.4% (AOR: 3.21, 95% CI: 0.28 – 18.69: p- value ≤ 0.021). Women with higher income and educational status had more prevalence compared to those with low socio-economic status 27.4% and 20.3% respectively (AOR: 1.65, 95% CI: 0.73 – 3.57: p- value ≤ 0.023). Medical indication including fetal distress were leading cause of caesarean section with prevalence of about 32% followed by caesarean section with prevalence of about 19.1%.

Conclusion: C-section is an effective intervention to save the lives of mothers and newborns at the time of complications during childbirth. The study identifies that the prevalence of C-sections among women attending at Bugando Medical Centre is two times higher than the WHO recommendations.