Cesarean Section and Associated Factors at Aira Hospital, Oromia Region, Western Ethiopia: A Retrospective Record Review

Introduction: According to the latest data from 150 countries, currently, 18.6% of all births occur by cesarean section, ranging from 6% to 27.2%. It is alarmingly increasing in the last decade with an average annual rate of increase by 4.4%. Objective: To assess the prevalence of the cesarean section and associated factors among mothers who gave a birth from January 01, 2014, to December 31, 2018, at Aira Hospital, west wollega zone, Oromia region, Ethiopia. Methods and materials: Study was conducted from June 1 to July 25, 2019, by retrospective review of complete medical records of mothers who gave birth from January 01, 2014, to December 31, 2018 at Aira general hospital, west wollega zone, Oromia region, Ethiopia. The sample size was determined by using single population proportion and the final sample size was 339. Check list was used for data collection which was adapted and developed by reviewing relevant literatures. The data was analyzed by statistical package for social science version 20. Odd ratio was used for the interpretation of strength of prediction of independent variable to outcome variable, cesarean section. The statistical significance was declared at P<0.05 with 95% confidence interval. Result: A total of 332 medical records were reviewed. More than half (51.8%) of mother were less than or equal to 24 years with the mean age of 24.23 (±5.17 SD). The prevalence of cesarean section was 33.1% (95%CI 31.3-35.2%). More than two third (85.5%) of mothers had antenatal care follow up and the gestational age at the time of delivery was 37-40 weeks for 90.7% of mothers. Maternal age, gestational age and fetal weight were factors associated with cesarean section. Conclusion: Since the current prevalence of cesarean section surpass the world health organization recommendation threshold vaginal delivery should be encouraged in appropriate cases and the time should be given for conservative management of fetal distress. Maternal age, gestational age and fetal weight were factors associated with cesarean section. We recommend a future researchers to examine the attitude of service providers and their influence on the growing cesarean section delivery rate.