Aspectos relacionados à escolha do tipo de parto: um estudo comparativo entre uma maternidade pública e outra privada, em

Abstract This study aimed to analyze aspects related to choice of type of delivery in two maternity hos-pitals, one public and the other private, in Sao Luis, Maranhao State, Brazil. This cross-sec-tional study compared 163 primiparous women in a public maternity hospital and 89 in a pri-vate hospital, with mean ages of 21.63 ± 5.24 and 28.8 ± 5.41 years, respectively. In the public hospital, 79.1% of the women reported prefer-ring vaginal deliveries, while in the private hos-pital 67.4% of the women preferred cesareans (p < 0.0001). Cesareans were performed in 46% of the women in the public maternity hospital and 97.8% of those in the private hospital (p < 0.0001). Patient satisfaction was high for both modes of delivery, but the desire to repeat the same mode was reported more frequently by women with vaginal deliveries (71.6% vs. 41.3% in the public maternity hospital and 100% vs. 65.5% in the private). In the public maternity hospital, the cesarean subgroup included more white and higher-income women. The cesarean rate was thus high in both maternity hospi-tals and was significantly higher in the private hospital; the study also showed a preference for vaginal delivery in the public hospital and ce-sareans in the private.Obstetric Delivery; Maternity Hospitals; Com-parative Study