Publication:

Morbidity of caesarean delivery: a comparative study between early and advanced stages of labour in an Indian tertiary care center

Background The aim was to compare the maternal and perinatal complications associated with caesarean sections performed in the early and advanced stage of labour.

Methods A retrospective analysis of 131 women with singleton term pregnancies who underwent emergency caesarean section. The study was done in a tertiary care teaching hospital in India. In this study advanced labour was defined as one with cervical dilatation 8 cm or more at the time of caesarean section. The primary outcome variables were a maternal composite morbidity and a neonatal composite morbidity. Categorical data were compared using chi square test or Fischer’s exact test.

Results 73 women (56%) underwent caesarean delivery in the early labour and 58(44%) in advanced labour. 12/73 (16.4%) patients in early stage of labour had at least one maternal complication (Composite maternal morbidity) compared to 18/58 (31%) women who had caesarean in advanced stage (p = 0.048). Seven patients out of 73 in the early labour and 14/58 in the advanced labour (p = 0.024) had at least one neonatal complication (Composite neonatal morbidity).

Conclusions The morbidity of primary caesarean sections done in the advanced stage of labour is associated with increased maternal and neonatal morbidity compared to that done in the early stage. A larger study will be needed to establish the inference.