ANALYSIS OF CAESAREAN SECTION RATE ACCORDING TO ROBSON CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL.

Purpose: The World Health Organization, recommends the Robson Ten Group Classification System (RTGCS) as a global standard for assessing, monitoring and comparing CS rates at both national and international levels. This study was aimed to analyze CS rate in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology MTI, LRH, Peshawar; according to RTGCS. This will help understand the major contributory groups to the overall CS rate and to formulate strategies to optimize the escalating rates. Methodology: A cross-sectional study for a period of 1 year from 1st January 2021 to 31st December 2021 was conducted at a tertiary care hospital located in the capital city of KPK Province, Pakistan. Women (n=7376) who delivered during the study period, fulfilling the inclusion/exclusion criteria were included. All relevant obstetric information was entered into a structured proforma. The study population was classified into Robson 10 groups and percentages were calculated for the overall CS rate, the representation of groups and contributions of the each group to the total CS rate. Findings: A total of 7376 deliveries were analyzed as per RTGCS. Of these 1679 (22.76%) were caesarean sections. According to the criteria used, Group I & III represented more than half (53.75%) of the obstetric population. The major contributor to the overall CS rate was group V (Previous caesarean delivery, single, cephalic > or equal to 37weeks), followed by group I (Nulliparous, single, cephalic > or equal to 37 weeks, in spontaneous labour), group X (All singleton, cephalic, < 37 weeks gestation pregnancies-including previous CS) and group III. Conclusion: The implementation of RTGCS at MTI, LRH, Peshawar helped to identify the contribution of each group to the overall CS rate. Group V was the leading contributor to the overall CS rate. This study also revealed a high rate of CS among low risk groups i.e. group I and III. Recommendations: Current study can be used to compare results among the institutions at provincial and national levels to design uniform policies throughout the Pakistan to optimize CS rate. Furthermore, education for both pregnant women and obstetricians is required to encourage and promote ECV and VBAC to avoid repeat Caesarean sections. Moreover, the instrumental vaginal delivery should be encouraged where clinically indicated and justified