Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

    Background & Aim: Normal vaginal delivery(NVD) is defined as the best method of delivery of most times but unfortunately its rate is decreasing because of increasing rate of cesarean section(C/S). Fear of NVD on one hand and preferring C/S on the other causes some difficulties in labor. In one study in Babol city(1998) only 5% of women had appropriate knowledge about kinds of delivery, showing their low level of knowledge. The object of this study is to define the knowledge level of pregnant women about advantages and disadvantages of normal vaginal delivery and cesarean section. Patients and Methods: In this cross sectional study, 1100 pregnant women in Tehran attending one of the governmental hospitals or private centers and that were not physicians or midwives were assessed. Considering the importance of topic questions they were divided in two groups(having 1 or 2 scores). According to their knowledge score, personal knowledge level was classified in to three levels: low level of knowledge(score range 0-16), good level of knowledge(score range 17-32) and satisfactory or high level of knowledge(score range 33-48). Results: The mean age of cases was 29.46 years with SD=7.2. Total mean score of knowledge level was 27.6(SD=8.98). Meanwhile 119 cases(10.8%) had a low knowledge(score range 0-16), 612 cases(55.6%) had a good knowledge(score range 17-32) and 369 cases(33.5%) had a satisfactory or high level of knowledge(score range 33-48) about types of delivery. Conclusion: According to our findings total knowledge of women in Tehran was in an appropriate level but their knowledge is limited and showed bias. We suggest setting up of workshops for general population inorder to increase their knowledge about types of delivery, advantages and disadvantages.