Psychosocial Factors for Women Requesting Cesarean Section

Background: Rates of caesarean section are progressively increasing in many parts of the world. As a result of psychosocial factors, there has been an increasing tendency for pregnant women without justifiable medical indications for caesarean section to ask for this procedure in China. The psychosocial factors for requesting cesarean section were analyzed in our study. Methods: A self-made questionnaire and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) were administered to evaluate lying-in women’s psychosocial state. Results: The proportion of lying-on women’s age and education degree was different significantly between the two groups (p < 0.01). In the study groups, the proportion of lying-on women who were in lower economic degree and in her first para was markerly higher than control (88.62% vs. 63.24%; 13.32％ vs. 3.42%, p < 0.01). In the study groups, the proportion of women who felt fearful, anxious, depressed and lacking confidence was higher than control. The ratio of women with university education in the CS group was higher than vaginal delivery group. The proportion of lying-on women without correct delivery knowledge was higher than control, but the difference was not significant (p > 0.05). By logistic regression, we found that for primipara, higher education degree, anxiety and lacking confidence were the dangerous factors for cesarean, while lower economic degree was a defendant factor. Conclusion: There were five main psychosocial factors such as education degree and economic state, parity, anxiety and confidence of lying-on women affecting the choice of the delivery way. The nulliparous women who feel anxious without confidence in nice economic state, with better education have higher risk to choose cesarean.