title: Non-medical factors affecting antenatal preferences for delivery route and actual delivery mode of women in southwestern Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Assessment of the contribution of non-medical factors to mode of delivery and birth preference in Iranian pregnant women in southwestern Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cohort study used data from a structured questionnaire completed in early pregnancy and information about the subsequent delivery obtained through personal contact. Women were recruited by random sampling from antenatal clinics when scheduling visits over the course of 5 weeks from December 2012 to February 2013 and were followed-up 1 month after birth. Of the 2199 women recruited, 99.63% were eligible for the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 748 women who expressed a desire to deliver their babies by cesarean section (CS) in early pregnancy, 87% had an elective cesarean section. The logistic regression analyses showed that normative beliefs (odds ratio [OR] 1.792, 95% confidence interval (1) 1.073-2.993), control beliefs (OR: 0.272, 95% CI: 0.162-0.459), and evaluation of outcomes (OR: 0.431, 95% CI: 0.268-0.692) favored the preference for cesarean section. The desire for delivery by elective cesarean section was associated with normative beliefs (OR: 1.138; 95% CI: 1.001-1.294), control beliefs (OR: 0.804; 95% CI: 0.698-0.927), and expectations about maternity care (OR: 0.772; 95% CI: 0.683-0.873), medical influences (OR: 1.150; 95% CI: 1.023-1.291), evaluation of outcome (OR: 0.789; 95% CI: 0.696-0.894), age, preference for cesarean section (OR: 5.445; 95% CI: 3.928-7.546), spouse educational level, and number of live births.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A woman's preference for delivery by cesarean section influenced their subsequent mode of delivery. Asking women in early pregnancy about their preferred mode of delivery provides the opportunity to extend their supports which might reduce the rate of elective cesarean section. This decision is affected by age, spouse educational level, number of live births, and preconceived maternal attitudes about delivery.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Epidemiology , School of Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran .
authors.forename: Abdolhalim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajabi
authors.affiliation: b Health Policy Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz , Iran .
authors.forename: Najmeh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maharlouei
authors.affiliation: c Department of Epidemiology , Research Center for Health Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz , Iran .
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rezaianzadeh
authors.affiliation: c Department of Epidemiology , Research Center for Health Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz , Iran .
authors.forename: Abdolreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajaeefard
authors.affiliation: d Department of Epidemiology , School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz , Iran , and.
authors.forename: Sareh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keshavarzi
authors.affiliation: b Health Policy Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz , Iran .
authors.forename: Kamran B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Lankarani
authors.affiliation: a Department of Epidemiology , School of Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran .|e Department of Public Health , School of Public Health, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences , Neyshabur , Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gholami
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010298:Parity; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Childbirth preference; cesarean section; iran; mode of delivery; questionnaires