Cesarean or Cesarean Epidemic?

Due to advances in surgical procedure, anesthesia techniques, blood transfusion and antibiotic therapy, the technique of cesarean section has been progressing over the time. However, cesarean section is still a risk-specific operation, with long-term and shortterm consequences for the mother and neonate. The rate of cesarean surgery is constantly growing due to both justifiable and nonjustifiable medical and non-medical reasons. There is evidence indicating that efforts are made in many countries to reduce the rate of cesarean delivery. In this review article, we try to assess the frequency of cesarean section in different countries, especially Iran. We searched several keywords, including cesarean section prevalence, cesarean section rate, world, delivery, Iran and health policies within the newest articles published in Google Scholar, PubMed, and ISI/Web of Sciences, as well as Iranian databases (Magiran, SID), from January 2017 to April 2019. The results show that there is still a high prevalence of C-section. In Iran, the highest rate of cesarean was in Tehran province (62.1%-72.1%) and the lowest was in Sistan and Baluchestan province (12%). It appears necessary to plan for effective interventions in terms of painless vaginal delivery, improving the quality of vaginal delivery services, proper culture and education.