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Table 4 Single (main) reason for pre-labour caesarean, by previous caesarean and country

From: Why 'down under' is a cut above: a comparison of rates of and reasons for caesarean section in England and Australia

Reasons for caesarean

All women

No previous caesarean

Previous caesarean

England

Queensland

OR (95% CI)+

England

Queensland

OR (95% CI)+

England

Queensland

OR (95% CI)+

% of PLCS (N = 642)

% of all births

(N = 5,242)

% of PLCS (N = 726)

% of all births (N = 3,463)

% of PLCS (N = 336)

% of all births^(N = 4,655)

% of PLCS (N = 305)

% of all births^(N = 2,843)

% of PLCS (N = 306)

% of all births#(N = 587)

% of PLCS (N = 421)

% of all births#(N = 620)

Previous Caesarean Only

17.1

2.1

30.9

6.5

3.40 (2.69-4.30)

     

35.9

18.7

53.2

36.1

2.82 (2.15-3.70)

Breech Presentation

24.0

2.9

16.0

3.4

0.95 (0.73-1.23)

37.2

2.7

29.5

3.2

1.02 (0.76-1.36)

9.5

4.9

6.2

4.2

0.73 (0.42-1.28)

Maternal Health Concerns

23.4

2.9

18.6

3.9

0.90 (0.69-1.17)

22.9

1.7

24.9

2.7

1.40 (1.00-1.97)

23.9

12.4

14.0

9.5

0.49 (0.33-0.74)

Suspected Disproportion

8.6

1.0

10.6

2.2

1.60 (1.12-2.30)

5.1

0.4

10.8

1.2

2.78 (1.53-5.05)

12.4

6.5

10.5

7.1

1.16 (0.74-1.83)

Fetal Distress

8.4

1.0

1.2

0.3

0.22 (0.11-0.44)

12.2

0.9

2.3

0.3

0.27 (0.12-0.60)

4.2

2.2

0.5

0.3

0.10 (0.02-0.46)

Carer/Hospital Recommendation

-

-

6.5

1.4

-

-

-

10.8

1.2

-

-

-

3.3

2.3

-

Maternal Preference

3.4

0.4

4.1

0.9

2.03 (1.16-3.56)

3.0

0.2

8.5

0.9

4.47 (2.14-9.33)

3.9

2.0

1.0

0.7

0.33 (0.11-1.04)

Obstetric History

4.4

0.5

3.7

0.8

1.08 (0.63-1.87)

3.9

0.3

4.3

0.5

1.58 (0.73-3.44)

4.9

2.6

3.3

2.3

0.75 (0.35-1.61)

Fetal Health Concerns

1.9

0.2

2.2

0.5

1.37 (0.63-2.97)

2.4

0.2

3.0

0.3

1.44 (0.54-3.83)

1.3

0.7

1.7

1.1

1.09 (0.30-3.94)

Malpresentation

0.9

0.1

0.7

0.1

0.97 (0.28-3.34)

1.2

0.1

1.3

0.1

1.08 (0.25-4.64)

0.7

0.3

0.2

0.2

0.40 (0.04-4.50)

Premature Labour

0.8

0.1

0.4

0.1

0.52 (0.12-2.29)

0.9

0.1

-

-

-

0.7

0.3

0.7

0.5

1.02 (0.16-6.50)

Shared Preference

-

-

2.6

0.6

-

-

-

1.0

0.1

-

-

-

3.8

2.6

-

Multiple Pregnancy

2.2

0.3

0.1

0.0

0.09 (0.01-0.72)

3.3

0.2

0.3

0.0

0.14 (0.02-1.10)

1.0

0.5

-

-

-

Other

5.0

0.6

2.3

0.5

0.80 (0.43-1.47)

8.8

0.6

3.3

0.4

0.65 (0.30-1.37)

1.6

0.9

1.7

1.1

1.32 (0.41-4.25)

  1. Note. PLCS = Pre-labour caesarean section. + The odds for women in Queensland (relative to women in England) of having had a caesarean for the specified reason. ^ The total number of women without a previous caesarean (irrespective of mode of birth for index pregnancy). # The total number of women with a previous caesarean (irrespective of mode of birth).