Document Type : Original Article

Authors

General Practitioner, Research Consultant, Yazd, Iran

Abstract

Background: Normal vaginal delivery (NVD) is the best method of delivery, but its rate is
decreasing. Results of many studies have shown that the risk of cesarean section (CS) for both
mother and child is more than that of NVD. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal was to
achieve a CS rate of 15% in 2010, but this rate in most of the developing countries is over than 50%.
In this study, we try to determine the related factors influencing the method of delivery selection by
mothers in Yazd city, Iran, based on Health Belief Model (HBM). Materials and Methods: This was
a cross‑sectional study done on 130 pregnant women who presented in four clinics of Yazd. The
mothers were in 32–37 weeks of gestational age. Samples were selected by simple randomized
method. Data were collected by questionnaire by interviewing and then analyzed by analysis of
variance (ANOVA) and t‑test. Results: Mean age of samples was 42.23 ± 4.52 years. Eighty‑four
(64%) women were primigravids and 49 (37.7%) mothers were multigravids. Of them, the method
of delivery in previous pregnancy was NVD in 29 (22.3%) and CS in 20 (14.3%). In their present
pregnancy, the method of delivery was NVD in 88 (67.7%) and CS in 42 (32.3%). The Pearson
test showed a significant correlation between perceived barriers and behavior (P=0.012). Also,
there was significant relationship between perceived susceptibility and behavior (P=0.03). There
was no significant relation between other variables (perceived benefits and perceived severity).
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, perceived susceptibility and perceived barriers
were related to behavior significantly, so we must educate mothers using HBM to influence their
behavior toward selecting NVD as their delivery method.

Keywords

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