Understanding Delivery Choices: What Really Influences Cesarean Rates? Despite global recommendations to limit unnecessary cesarean sections, rates continue to rise without proportional improvements in maternal or neonatal outcomes. This retrospective study from Southern Brazil analyzed 1,485 births to identify key factors influencing mode of delivery within a real-world public healthcare setting. The findings showed that 52.1% of deliveries were cesarean, while 47.9% were vaginal.
Several modifiable factors were significantly associated with higher cesarean rates , including primiparity (OR=2.97), lack of cervical dilation at admission, and absence of maternal preference for vaginal birth. In contrast, advanced cervical dilation (7–10 cm) dramatically reduced cesarean likelihood (OR=0.03). Importantly, care practices played a decisive role—interventions such as amniotomy, use of…
