A Three-Year Review of Caesarean Delivery at a Secondary Health Facility in North-Western Nigeria

Background: Caesarean section is today one of the commonest surgical operations performed on women. The increased refinement in anaesthetics and surgical skills has reduced the morbidity and mortality associated with the procedures. Most of the studies on caesarean rates in Nigeria are from tertiary centres in the main cities. They may not reflect the situation in secondary facilities in rural and sub-urban areas which do not have the adequate number of staff, equipment and logistic support. Objectives: To determine the rates of caesarean section, indications and outcome in the general hospital located in Dutse, Jigawa, North-Western Nigeria. Methods: It was a retrospective review of records of women that had caesarean delivery between January 2013 and December 2015. Socio-demographic and obstetric information were extracted and analysed using SPSS statistical software. Analysis of the data was done using descriptive statistics. Ethical approval was obtained from the state ministry of health research ethics committee. Results: There were a total of 9,362 deliveries of which 543 were caesarean births giving a caesarean section rate of 5.8%. Majority of the procedures were emergency (90%). More than half of the women had prolonged obstructed labour as the indication. Mean age (±SD) of the women was 25.5 ±7.21 years. There were 69 stillbirths and 4 maternal deaths. The main complication was wound breakdown seen among 9.8% of patients. Conclusion: The rate of caesarean section was lower compared to other secondary and tertiary facilities in Nigeria. Nine out of every 10 caesarean sections were emergency and were associated with high perinatal and maternal morbidity.