The prevalence and indication for caesarean section at Ndola Central Hospital, Ndola, Zambia

Abstract

A Caesarean section (C-section) is a procedure in surgery done to deliver a baby when vaginal deliveryendangers the baby's or mother's life or health. No studies on prevalence or indications of C-section have been conducted at Ndola Central Hospital (NCH) in Zambia. Hence a retrospective study was undertaken aimed at determining the prevalence and indications for C-sections at NCH between January and December, 2013. The major goal was to contribute to the reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality at NCH. Following ethical approval from Tropical Diseases Research Centre (TDRC) Ethical Committee, data collection was performed from June to July, 2016. Data was extracted from maternity in-patient and theatre register records of 358 systematically randomly selected clients. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS. Proportions of various variables were compared using the Chi-square test and only results yielding p value of less than 0.05 were considered to be of statistical significance. Findings were that 74 clients had caesarean sections and 284 clients delivered by spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD). The overall prevalence of Caesarian section at NCH during period under review among 358 clients admitted was 20.7%. The most common indications were foetal and maternal distress (14.9%), prolonged labour (10.8%), cephalopelvic disproportion (8.1%), pregnancy induced hypertension (6.8%), malpresentation or breech presentation (6.8%), antepartum haemorrhage (4.1%), multi-gestation (4.1%) foetal and maternal distress together with pregnancy induced hypertension (4.1%). The observed rate is higher than the recommended rate by World Health Organization. Hence need to strengthen antenatal monitoring of indications for C-section and improve access to antenatal services.