TITLE:
Awareness and Knowledge of Caesarean Section (CS) Complications among Healthcare Students and How It Affects Their Decision-Making for Future Delivery—A Prospective Cross-Sectional Survey
AUTHORS:
Remah M. Kamel, Raghad Aljuhani, Yousef Albog, Husna Irfan, Faten Yaseen
KEYWORDS:
Caesarean Section Rate, CS Indications, Short-Term Maternal Complications of CS, Long-Term Maternal Complications of CS, Foetal Complications of CS
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.15 No.3,
March
13,
2025
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Caesarean deliveries (C-sections) are increasing at a rapid rate worldwide. The World Health Organization has stated that no region in the world is justified in having a C-section rate greater than 15%, which is the median percentage globally. The C-section rate in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia, was reported to exceed 25%; at least 13% of these C-sections were performed without a valid medical reason. With a high CS rate, the number of complications associated with surgery increases. Aim: This aper aims to assess the awareness and knowledge of healthcare students about C-sections’ complications and their impact on their future decision-making for modes of women’s delivery. Subjects and Methods: It is a cross-sectional, pre-structured online survey planned to include 502 healthcare students (males and females) across different academic study grades of ten different healthcare programs at the Batterjee Medical College (BMC), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during six months, from January 1st to June 30th, 2024. Results: Healthcare students’ awareness and knowledge have a subsequent effect on their choice of the woman’s mode of delivery. High-scoring knowledge shows a strong negative linear correlation with choice of CS (r = -0.96811) and a weak positive linear correlation with vaginal delivery (r = 0.43834). Unfortunately, most of the participating students have an inadequate (or poor) knowledge score (256, 50.99%), a high choice of CS (180, 35.86%), and a low choice of vaginal delivery (76, 15.14%). Conclusion: The estimated degree of awareness and knowledge about C-sections’ complications were different among male and female healthcare students, as well as varied across different healthcare programs. The background awareness and knowledge has a subsequent effect on the participating students’ future choice of the woman’s mode of delivery.