| Summary: | Abstract Background In recent years, caesarean section rates continue to evoke worldwide concern because of their steady increase, lack of consensus on the appropriate caesarean section rate and the associated short- and long-term risks. This study sought to identify the rate of caesarean section and associated factors in two districts in rural southern Ghana. Methods Pregnancy, birth, and socio-demographic information of 4948 women who gave birth between 2011 and 2013 were obtained from the database of Dodowa Health and Demographic Surveillance System. The rate of C-section was determined and the associations between independent and dependent variables were explored using logistic regression. The analyses were done in STATA 14.2 at 95% confidence interval. Results The overall C-section rate for the study period was 6.59%. Women aged 30–34 years were more than twice likely to have C-section compared to those < 20 year (OR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.20–3.90). However, women aged 34 years and above were more than thrice likely to undergo C-section compared to those < 20 year (OR: 3.73, 95% CI: 1.45–5.17). The odds of having C-section was 65 and 79% higher for participants with Primary and Junior High level schooling respectively (OR: 1.65, 95% CI: 1.08–2.51, OR:1.79, 95%CI: 1.19–2.70). The likelihood of having C-section delivery reduced by 60, 37, and 35% for women with parities 2, 3 and 3+ respectively (OR:0.60, 95% CI: 0.43–0.83, OR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.25–0.56, OR:0.35, 95% CI: 0.25–0.54). There were increased odds of 36, 52, 83% for women who belong to poorer, middle, and richer wealth quintiles respectively (OR: 1.36, 95%CI: 0.85–2.18, OR: 1.52, 95% CI: 0.97–2.37, OR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.20–2.80). Participants who belonged to the richest wealth quintile were more than 2 times more likely to have C-section delivery (OR: 2.14, 95%CI: 1.43–3.20). The odds of having C-section delivery reduced by 76% for women from Ningo-Prampram district (OR: 0.76, 95% CI: 0.59.0.96). Women whose household heads have Junior High level and above of education were 45% more likely to have C-section delivery (OR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.09–1.93). Conclusion Age of mother, educational level, parity, household socioeconomic status, district of residence, and level of education of household head are associated with caesarean section delivery.
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