Increased cesarean section rates in XXXX .

@entity1 @entity283 @entity233
The aim of this study was to examine the trend in Cesarean section deliveries and the factors associated with Cesarean sections in @entity233 . Data come from the ever-married @entity1 questionnaire of the 1998 Turkish @entity283 (TDHS-98). During the decade preceding the TDHS-98, the proportion of deliveries by Cesarean section increased from 5.7% to 20.8%. When only hospital births were considered, the percentage of Cesarean deliveries for the year 1998 was found to be 26.1%. The estimated rate for the year 2001 was around 30% (i.e. double the maximum rate of Cesarean sections defined by the World Health Organization). Logistic regression analysis performed for the births occurring in the most recent period of 1993-98 revealed that the highest Cesarean section rate was strongly associated with maternal education, maternal age, place of delivery, number with prenatal care and household welfare. These findings imply that @entity1 with higher socioeconomic status are more likely to accept Cesarean section than @entity1 with lower socioeconomic status. The trend of increasing Cesarean section rates is a problem in itself, but more importantly it may indicate that @entity233 is headed toward a more costly medical delivery system. For all of these reasons, the reduction of Cesarean section rates should be a priority for any reproductive health program in @entity233 in order to improve the quality of prenatal care and to reduce the number of maternal deaths and morbidity.
