Cesarean Delivery on Maternal Request among Patients Undergoing Cesarean Section in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Caesarean delivery on maternal request in absence of any maternal and fetal indications and has become a concerning issue among obstetricians. It seems to be one of the contributory factors of increased cesarean rate all over the world. This study aims to find out the prevalence of cesarean delivery on maternal request among cesarean deliveries in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from November 1st 2019 to February 1st 2020 among women undergoing cesarean section in a tertiary care hospital. The ethical clearance was taken from the Institutional Review Committee of Kathmandu Medical College (reference number: 201120192). Convenient sampling was used. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 was used for analysis. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Results: Out of 386 cesarean sections, maternal request was the indication in 72 (18.65%) (95% Confidence Interval = 14.76-22.54) mothers. Among the 72, 38 (52.7%) chose cesarean section for fear of labor pain, 14 (19.4%) for date-of-birth selection, 10 (13.8%) for anxiety of labor pain, because of cord around the neck in four (5.5%), male baby in three (4.1%), to avoid pelvic trauma in two (2.7%), and to go abroad in one (1.3%). Conclusions: Our study showed a prevalence of cesarean delivery on maternal request higher than other national studies but was similar to the global prevalence. The commonest reasons were fear of labor followed by date-of-birth selection.