Assessment of suitability of vaginal birth after cesarean-section

Aim: The study descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in order to assess suitability of vaginal birth after cesarean-section. Materials and Method: The population of the study consisted of 7501 woman who had cesarean-section in Malatya province in 2012. The sample group consisted of a total of 356 women who had cesarean-section, with 0.98 power to represent the population, at 95% confidence interval, 0.05 and two-way significance level, and 0.5 effect size according to power analysis. 204 women from Malatya Public Hospital and 161 women from Turgut Özal Medical Center who had cesarean-section and within discharge process were included in the study. The study was conducted at gynecology services of Malatya Public Hospital and Turgut Özal Medical Center on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between January and March 2014. The data were collected by the researcher using a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, mean, standard deviation, and percentage tests were used to assess the data. Results: In the study, average age of the women was determined as 29.13 ± 5.66 and approximately half of them were literate/primary school graduates. 51.8% of the women in the study stated that they decided to have cesarean-section with the doctor and themselves together, which was ranked as the first reason. It was determined in the study that the reasons for women to have cesarean-section were previous c-section delivery, fetal distress and cephalopelvic disproportion, respectively. In the study, 14.5% of the women were assessed as "can have VBAC in any case", 48.2% as "can generally have VBAC", 26.3% as "even though VBAC is not suggested, it can be used if there was not any appropriate or available method", and 11% as "VBAC should not be underwent". Conclusion: In the study for following birth, almost half of the women were found as "can generally have VBAC" and in convenient health centers with experienced health personnels they may have VBAC, considering the women's health status at the time. Key Words: Nursing, cesarean-section, VBAC, vaginal birth, VBAC suitability criteria.