Trends and indications for caesarean section in a tertiary care obstetric hospital in coastal south India

An increase in the Caesarean Section (CS) rates is a concern in the health care systems all over the world. In a developing country, an increase in the CS rate has major implications on the limited health care resources. A hospital based retrospective study was carried out in a tertiary government-run hospital specializing in Obstetrics & Gynaecology & all deliveries conducted from Jan 1^st 2009 to Dec 31^st 2009 were included. There were 7543 deliveries in the study period, with 1756 being CS, giving a rate of 23.27%. There is an increasing trend of caesarean section from 2005 (20.24%) to 2009 (23.27%) in our hospital. Most of the CSs were performed with previous CS as the indication. Foetal distress, breech presentation and failed induction was the other non-absolute indications. Placenta praevia and malpresentations were the most common absolute indications of CS.