Characteristics of nulliparous women who would consider cesarean delivery on maternal request.

Objective: To identify factors that influence nulliparous women to choose cesarean delivery on maternal request (CDMR).

Methods: Nulliparous women at > or = 34 weeks completed a 76-item survey about concerns during labor, delivery and postpartum.

Results: Mean age of the 294 respondents was 28.4 years (+/- 6.13 years SD) and mean gestational age was 35.4 weeks (+/- 2.8 weeks). Sixteen patients (5.4%) would request CDMR if offered. Women who would request CDMR were more likely to plan breastfeeding (OR 5.1, P=0.02), have a mother who delivered by C-section (OR 5.1, P= 0.01), and be concerned about the number of family members present (OR 1.75, P=0.002). Pelvic muscle damage, urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, or need for prolapse surgery were notcited by any patient as her top concern.

Conclusions: Few women in our sample desire CDMR. Concern for pelvic-floor problems was low.