The Rate of Normal Vaginal Delivery and Cesarean Section in Two Six Month Periods before and After the Health Reform Project in Hospitals Affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences

Background: The normal vaginal delivery (NVD) promoting plan, with the aim of improving mothers and children health, is one of the programs of the health system reform plan. The aim of this study was to compare the rates of NVD and cesarean section before and after the health system reform plan in hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences.   Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, data related to the total number of normal vaginal deliveries and cesarean sections were obtained from the documents sent to the census bureau and the department of midwifery of Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Data were analyzed through SPSS 19 and using paired t-test.   Results: From the 7 hospitals under study in Kerman Province, from a total of 6559 delivery cases in the six months before the implementation of the plan, 3409 ones (51.97%) and from 6992 delivery cases in the six months after the plan, 3968 ones (56.57%) were performed as normal vaginal delivery. This shows growth of normal vaginal delivery rate by 4.75% after the health system reform plan, but was not statistically significant (P=0.093).   Conclusion: In spite of partial achievement of the plan goals, other attempts such as focusing on physicians’ attitudes increasing the knowledge and changing the attitudes of people in the society especially pregnant women are required to obtain desirable results with a better speed