Perception of caesarean section among pregnant women in Pakistan

We aimed to determine the frequency of CS, and explore patient's perception towards CS attending public hospitals in Pakistan. A two-phased study design (retrospective and cross sectional) was adopted. A retrospective study was conducted to assess the frequency of CS over one year among four public hospitals. A cross sectional study was subsequently conducted to determine patients' perception towards CS attending the four tertiary care public hospitals in Quetta city, Pakistan, which is where most births take place. The overall prevalence of CS was 13.1%. Although 78.8% perceived CS as dangerous, influenced by education (p = 0.004), locality (p = 0.001) and employment status (p = 0.001), 74.5% of patients were in agreement that this is the best approach to save mother's and baby's lives if needed. 62% of respondents reported they would like to avoid CS if they could due to post-operative pain, and 58.9% preferred a normal delivery. We concluded that the overall frequency of CS approximates to WHO recommendations, although there is appreciable variation among the four hospitals. When it comes to perception towards CS, women had limited information.