Materno-fetal and neonatal outcomes associated with caesarean section delivery in private and public hospitals in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Advancement in medicine has improved birth assistance. As a result, caesarean section delivery (CSD) has become the most commonly performed surgical procedure. The exponential growth has now skewed toward low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) despite the wellestablished morbimortality risk and extra costs associated to this procedure. The expansion of private healthcare sector may be playing a significant role. The objective of this review synthesizes knowledge and investigates the difference in materno-fetal and neonatal outcomes of CSD in the perinatal period, between private and public hospitals.Methods: Medline, Embase, Cinhal, Cochrane Database, LILACS, and HINARI were screened for peerreviewed published studies in English and French, from 1990 to 2019, in human subjects and supplemented by manual searches. The studies included were prospective and retrospective cohort studies, cross-sectional and Delphi studies comparing perinatal outcomes of women whose neonates were delivered by caesarean section and by vaginal delivery in public and private hospitals. In total, the searches yielded 7,762 studies, assessed independently by two assessors. Of these, 26 quantitative studies were included which risk of bias was considered fairly low.Results: Elective or not, CSD is associated with a variety of outcomes, including death for both the mother and the neonate. Low quality of life, postpartum depression, infections, and scars were burdens attributable to CSD in both sectors. CSD is associated with less urinary incontinence compared to vaginal delivery but no difference exists in early skin-to-skin contact or in early breastfeeding introduction. Finally, across continents, Africa leads in terms of adverse consequences. Discussion/Conclusion: Private facilities surpassed public ones in CSD rate but were associated with the least severe materno-neonatal outcomes. Countries like China are succeeding through robust policies interventions formulation to contain the CSD epidemic and the health issues associated thereto.