OBJECTIVE:

To find the non-medical factors that intervene in the obstetrician’s criteria for choosing a birth canal or Cesarean section.

MATERIALS

AND METHODS: Transversal, retrospective, observational and analytical study carried out on patients attended between 2016 and 2019 at Hospital Ángeles Lomas (Mexico City), with more than 24 weeks of pregnancy and who finished it by vaginal delivery or cesarean section. Exclusion criterion: Multiple pregnancies. Dependent variable: birth by delivery or cesarean section. Independent variables: sex of the obstetrician, office in the same hospital or outside, availability of medical assistant, month of the year, day of the week and vacation period.

RESULTS:

3906 births, 1495 cesarean sections (38.3%) and 2411 deliveries (61.7%) were included. A higher risk of cesarean section was observed, with statistical significance in: births attended by external obstetricians (OR = 3.81; CI95%: 3.07-4.73), births attended by obstetricians at the same hospital without a physician’s assistant (OR = 1. 75; CI95%: 1.48-2.08), female obstetricians (OR = 2.55; CI95%: 2.06-3.16), April vs. December (OR = 1.44; CI95%:1.04-1.98) and Wednesday vs More cesarean sections were recorded in the pre-vacation vs. vacation period (OR = 1.51; IC95%: 0.94-2.43) with no statistically significant difference.

CONCLUSIONS:

There are non-medical factors that increase the frequency of cesarean section. Those related to the obstetrician included: not having the office in the same hospital and not having a medical assistant.

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