Emergency caesarean section in low risk nulliparous women

Abstract

The rising incidence of caesarean section (CS), including emergency caesarean section (ECS) in nulliparas is of concern. Previous CS may have implications for future pregnancies and deliveries. This article describes the prevalence and indications for ECS in a cohort of low risk nulliparas and identifies maternal and fetal risk factors associated with ECS. We included 2,748 low-risk women and 8.7% had ECS. Failure-to-progress (FTP) accounted for 68.3% of the ECS and 30.4% were performed due to suspected fetal distress (SFD). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were done to estimate the association between risk factors and indications for ECS. Smoking during pregnancy (OR 2.33; CI 1.18–4.61) and BMI ≥ 30 (OR 2.87, CI 1.34–6.16) were associated with increased risk of ECS due to SFD. Birth weight (BW) ≥ 4,000 (OR 2.95; CI 1.92–4.53) and smoking cessation during pregnancy (OR 2.02; CI 1.26–3.20) were associated with increased risk of ECS due to FTP.

Keywords::

• Emergency caesarean section
• risk factors
• indications
• nulliparous

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.