comparison of regret and hopelessness in primiparous iranian women following vaginal birth and cesarean section

Background & aim: the rate of unnecessary caesarean section are exceptionallyhigh in some countries, including iran. though women may choose their mode ofdelivery, negative feelings of regret and hopelessness can occur in relationto decision-making following birth. thus, this study aimed to compare regretand hopelessness in primiparous women following both vaginal and cesareanbirth.methods: overall, 300 participants were included in this descriptive comparativestudy. participants were included following vaginal birth (n=100), birth viaemergency cesarean section (n=100) and birth via elective cesarean section(n=100) between june and october 2019. participants were recruited fromcomprehensive health centers in zabol, southeast of iran. data collection toolsincluded the demographic characteristics questionnaire, decision regret scale, andbeck hopelessness scale which were completed eight weeks after childbirth. toanalyze data independent-sample t test and one-way anova were used.results: mean and standard deviation for scores in relation to regret eight weeksfollowing vaginal birth and elective cesarean section were 29.70 ± 25.97, 43.20 ±15.88, respectively. there was a statistically significant difference between themean score of regret in the vaginal birth and elective cesarean section (p < 0.001).there was no statistically significant difference in terms of hopelessness amongthree groups of vaginal birth, birth via emergency cesarean section, and birth viaelective cesarean section.conclusion: the higher scores in relation to regret in women who birthed viaelective cesarean section in this study suggest that strategies are required toreduce rates of unnecessary cesarean sections.