Objective:to understand the episiotomy rate and its relationship with various clinical
variables. Method:a descriptive, cross-sectional, analytic study of 12,093 births in a tertiary
hospital. Variables: Parity, gestational age, start of labor, use of epidural
analgesia, oxytocin usage, position during fetal explusion, weight of neonate, and
completion of birth. The analysis was performed with SPSS 19.0. Results:the global percentage of episiotomies was 50%. The clinical variables that
presented a significant association were primiparity (RR=2.98), gestational age
>41 weeks (RR=1.2), augmented or induced labor (RR=1.33), epidural analgesia
use (RR=1,95), oxytocin use (RR=1.58), lithotomy position during fetal expulsion
(RR=6.4), and instrumentation (RR=1.84). Furthermore, maternal age ≥35 years
(RR=0.85) and neonatal weight <2500 g (RR=0.8) were associated with a lower
incidence of episiotomy. Conclusions:episiotomy is dependent on obstetric interventions performed during labor. If we
wish to reduce the episiotomy rate, it will be necessary to bear in mind these
risk factors when establishing policies for reducing this procedure.