Effective education to decrease elective caesarean section

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Health Education
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Many women opt for elective cesarean sections, forgoing natural delivery.
• Understanding factors influencing delivery choices is crucial for maternal health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of educational interventions on women's decisions regarding natural delivery.
• To compare the effectiveness of different educational approaches in shifting preferences from elective cesarean to natural birth.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental study involving 200 pregnant women intending elective cesarean sections.
• Interventions included an educational package alone or combined with group discussion, compared to a control group.
• Data were collected post-intervention and analyzed using Kruskal Wallis and logistic regression.

Main Results:

• Both educational interventions led to significant behavioral changes (p < 0.01).
• The group receiving both the educational package and group discussion showed a higher rate of opting for natural delivery (42%) compared to the educational package alone (2.5%).
• Control group participants primarily opted for natural delivery in emergency situations.

Conclusions:

• Educational interventions effectively improved awareness, attitude, perceived behavior control, subjective norms, and behavioral intention towards natural delivery.
• The combination of an educational package and group discussion was superior in influencing women to choose natural delivery over elective cesarean section.