Authors
- Shilan Amir Hosseini 1
- Bakhtiar Piroozi 2
- Mohammad Amerzade 3
- Hooman Ghasri 4
- Salah Aldin Farshadi 1
- Hossein Safari 3
- Seyfollah Moradi 5
1 Treatment Deputy, Department of Health Economics, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
2 Social Determinant of Health Research Centre, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
3 Department of Health Services Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4 Treatment Deputy of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
5 Support and Resources Deputy of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
Abstract
Background: Since April 22, 2014, the natural childbirth promotion package has been implemented in the form of the Health Transformation Plan (HTP) to decrease the cesarean section rate in Iran. This study aimed to determine the amount of subsidy allocated to the natural childbirth package and to examine its effects on the cesarean section rate in hospitals affiliated with Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), Kurdistan Province, Iran.
Methods: This is a descriptive study implemented by retrospective and longitudinal design. The population in this study to determine the budget amount allocated to “childbirth promotion package” and all mothers that had natural childbirth deliveries from May 5, 2014 (beginning of HTP) to September 2015 in hospitals affiliated with KUMS. Study populations to determine the C-section ratio included all mothers who had deliveries in hospitals affiliated with KUMS from December 2012 to May 4, 2014 (before HTP) and from May 5, 2014 to September 2015 (after HTP). Using a checklist, the required data was collected from the Statistics and Health Economics Department of Treatment Deputy of KUMS. Afterwards, the obtained data were described using the descriptive statistical indicators including frequency, percent, and mean via Microsoft Excel 2013 (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA).
Results: Since the beginning of implementing the natural childbirth promotion package until September 21, 2015, a total of 23 566 mothers had natural childbirth deliveries in the hospitals affiliated with KUMS. These mothers benefited from a total amount of 23 939 046 090 IRR provided by the natural childbirth package. In addition, the cesarean ratio has decreased 7% after implementing HTP.
Conclusions: It seems that HTP caused for the cesarean ratio to decrease in hospitals affiliated to KUMS. Further studies are recommended to determine the causality between a decrease in cesarean rate and HTP.
Keywords
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