Original researchObstetricians’ opinions regarding patient choice in cesarean delivery
Section snippets
Materials and methods
The survey was strictly anonymous. A questionnaire was sent by mail to 650 Israeli obstetricians (approximately 60% of the obstetricians in Israel) who were on a mailing list as participants in national monthly meetings of obstetricians. A total of 270 questionnaires were answered. No follow-up questionnaires were sent to obstetricians who did not return the questionnaire, and their demographic data were not investigated. However, the demographic profile of the respondents, as presented in
Results
The demographic data of the 257 respondents is shown in Table 1. The number and percentage of obstetricians who consented to perform cesarean in the three cases presented in the questionnaire are shown in Table 2. The respondents’ consent rate ranged from 40% to 79% according to the clinical situation. Eighty-eight respondents (34%, 95% CI 28, 40) agreed to perform cesarean in all three clinical situations, 121 (47%, 95% CI 41, 53) consented in one or two clinical situations, and 48 (19%, 95%
Discussion
Approximately half of the respondents to this survey—of whom 81% were certified obstetricians, 73% working in hospitals and 26% with a teaching academic degree— consented to patient choice cesarean. The rate of consent ranged from 80% in the case of a 40-year-old primigravida to 41% in the case of a primigravida with no known risk factors. Almost half of the respondents supported the principle that women should have the right to choose cesarean as the mode of delivery if they wish so. Moreover,
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