Bosede Olanike AWOYEMI
Background: There has been an increase in the rate of caesarean section (CS) which raise concern about the costs and risk associated with it. The emphasis is to reduce the rising rate of CS so as to reduce the risk and costs associated with it. The aim of this study was to examine the rate of CS and identify the cost associated with it relative to the costs of virginal delivery. Methods: Data were obtained from the cross-section of 166 women receiving postnatal care at both public and private hospitals that provide maternity service using structured questionnaire. Convenience sampling technique was used for the selection of women from the postnatal ward. The descriptive statistics was used to examine the prevalence rate of caesarean section among women in Ado-Ekiti, while the simple arithmetic and descriptive analysis were used to measure the Economic costs of caesarean section and virginal delivery. Results: The study revealed that the rate of caesarean section among women in Ado-Ekiti was 19.9%. The rate of CS was 39.4% among the women within the age group of 32-38 years, 42.4% and 45.5% among the educated and wage employed women respectively. The cost of CS in both the public and private healthcare facilities was found to be higher than the cost of Virginal delivery. Conclusion: On this note, this study concluded that there is increase in the household health expenditure and increase in maternal mortality rate, especially in the case of women who cannot afford the cost when the risk of virginal delivery (VD) is too high.