A five year appraisal of caesarean section in a northern Nigeria university teaching hospital.

A retrospective analysis of cases of caesarean section performed in Jos University Teaching Hospital between January 1994 and December 1998 was undertaken to determine the incidence, indications, perinatal and maternal outcome. There were 11,571 deliveries with 2083 caesarean sections done giving an incidence of 18%. 62.2% of the patients who had caesarean section were booked for antenatal care and delivered in the hospital, while 37.8% were unbooked seen as emergency. 90% of the operations were done as an emergency while only 10% was electively performed. There was a high caesarean section rate in all the age groups as well as the various parity distributions. The main indications for the elective section were repeat caesarean section, placenta praevia, precious baby, severe pregnancy induced hypertension and bad obstetric history while those for emergency section were cephalo-pelvic disproportion foetal distress, repeat caesarean section, antepartum haemorrhage, severe pregnancy induced hypertension/eclampsia, obstructed labour and breech presentation. The maternal mortality rate was 624.1/100,000 due mainly to haemorrhage, eclampsia and sepsis and there was one anaesthetic death amongst the booked patients. The perinatal mortality rate was 81.6/1000. The clinical causes of deaths were birth asphyxia, ante-partum haemorrhage, obstructed labour and prematurity.