Abstract:
Background: Cesarean-delivery has played a major role in lowering both maternal and perinatal
morbidity and mortality rates. Rates of cesarean section are of concern to both developed &
developing countries. The global cesarean delivery rate is distributed very unevenly and results 15
% of abdominal delivery. The rate ranges 2% in least developed countries to 21.1% in developed
countries. The four most common indications for cesarean delivery which account for
approximately 80 percent of these deliveries include: failure to progress during labor, previous
hysterectomy, nonreassuring fetal status and fetal malpresentation. Complications and
consequences associated with CS include infectious and noninfectious complications.
Objective: To determine the prevalence, common indications, outcomes and complications of
cesarean section in Attat Hospital.
METHODES: Facility based cross-sectional study was conducted in Attat Hospital, Gurage zone
SNNPR, Ethiopia from January/2011 –December/2013GC. Data was collected using structured
questionnaire by trained data collectors. The collected data was checked for their completeness,
entered, edited, cleaned and analyzed by SPSS Verssion20.Chi- square test, 95% CI and P-value
<0.05 were used to examine association between dependent and independent variables.
Result: The prevalence of cesarean section is 27.6%. The age of the patients ranged between 16-
45years with a mean age of 28.12 years (SD±5.14). The leading indications for cesarean birth
were, Cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD) (38.1%), previous CS (18.9%), fetal distress (12.5%),
malpresentation and malposition (7.1%), and antepartum hemorrhage (APH) (6%) accounting for
82.6% of the indications for cesarean section. Maternal indications constituted 191 (68%) whereas
fetal indications accounted for 90 (32%). There was only one (0.4%) maternal death, but the
overall maternal morbidity rate was 9.6%. The gross perinatal mortality rate was 64/1000 live
births which was statistically higher than 2011 national report for all deliveries, which was
46/1000 live births.
Conclusion: Although the Cs rate of 27.6% is high, the perinatal outcome was not improved.
Cesarean sections performed for appropriate medical or obstetric indications are life saving for
both the mother as well as the new born. Therefore to reduce the high prevalence of Cs, each case
should be thoroughly evaluated to determine the possibility for vaginal delivery.
