Women's caesarean section preferences: A multicountry cross-sectional survey in low- and middle-income countries.

Objective: To measure the proportion of women's preferences for CS in hospitals with high caesarean section rates and to identify related factors.

Design: A cross-sectional hospital-based postpartum survey was conducted. We used multilevel multivariate logistic regression and probit models to analyse the association between women's caesarean section preferences and maternal characteristics.

How does hospital organisation influence the use of caesarean sections in low- and middle-income countries? A cross-sectional survey in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Thailand and Vietnam for the QUALI-DEC project.

Background: Improving the understanding of non-clinical factors that lead to the increasing caesarean section (CS) rates in many low- and middle-income countries is currently necessary to meet the challenge of implementing effective interventions in hospitals to reverse the trend. The objective of this study was to study the influence of organizational factors on the CS use in Argentina, Vietnam, Thailand and Burkina Faso.

Methods: A cross-sectional hospital-based postpartum survey was conducted in 32 hospitals (8 per country).

Women's empowerment and elective cesarean section for a single pregnancy: a population-based and multivariate study in Vietnam.

Background: Women's empowerment, and maternal and neonatal health are important targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. Our objective is to examine the relationship between women's empowerment and elective cesarean section (ECS), focusing on Vietnam, a country where the use of CS has increased rapidly in recent decades, which raises public health concerns.

Methods: We hypothesized that in the context of the developing biomedicalization of childbirth, women's empowerment increases the use of ECS due to a woman's enhanced ability to decide her mode of delivery.

Implementation and evaluation of nonclinical interventions for appropriate use of cesarean section in low- and middle-income countries: protocol for a multisite hybrid effectiveness-implementation type III trial.

Background: While cesarean sections (CSs) are a life-saving intervention, an increasing number are performed without medical reasons in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Unnecessary CS diverts scarce resources and thereby reduces access to healthcare for women in need. Argentina, Burkina Faso, Thailand, and Vietnam are committed to reducing unnecessary CS, but many individual and organizational factors in healthcare facilities obstruct this aim.