[Analysis of cesarean section indication at a center for active management of labor]

Since 1985, when active management of labor was introduced at Hospital Dr. Gustavo Fricke, a significative decrease of cesarean section delivery has been observed. In 918 women operated on between October 1987 and March 1989, the main indication was as follow: elective cesarean section, repeated section, fetal distress in labor and abnormal lying of the fetus with an incidence of 31.2%, 18.4%, 17.9% and 14.3% respectively. Dystocia, which appears to be the main cause in international literature represented only 12.3% of the total cesarean section in our service.