Vaginal Birth After Caesarean Section - Effect on Maternal Psychosocial Function

The incidence of caesarean section has reached 15-20% in most developed countries. Encouraging vaginal birth after caesareans section (VBAC) has been considered a key component of a strategy to reduce the caesarean section rate. Most medical literature has focused on the efficacy of VBAC in reducing the caesarean section rate and the physical safety of successful VBAC. However, 30%-40% of these women fail to achieve a vaginal delivery. Little is known about how the uncertainty of labour outcome and a failed VBAC impact on the psychosocial function of these women. What we do know is that antenatal depression and unplanned caesarean section are major risk factors for postpartum depression, which in turn is the major cause of maternal mortality in many developed countries including Hong Kong. We propose to study a cohort of women with a prior caesarean section and presenting with a subsequent pregnancy for care. After consent and recruitment, these subjects will be randomly assigned to have a repeat caesarean section or VBAC. The medical outcomes, overall satisfaction of the subjects with the care they received, and the short-term psychosocial function of these subjects will be studied. The result of this study will provide important information that would be useful in assisting women to decide the mode of delivery after a prior caesarean section. The Hypothesis is that there is a significant difference in psychosocial function between these 2 groups of patients.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Vaginal Birth After Cesarean
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: elective cesarean section

• Study Type: Interventional
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 1 second and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• women who agree for vaginal birth after prior cesarean section and who had no previous history of vaginal delivery

Exclusion Criteria:

• Inability or unwillingness to give informed consent. Multiple pregnancy, more than one previous caesarean section, and a previous classical caesarean section, presence of other contra-indications to vaginal birth

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Beck Depression Inventory
Client Satisfaction Questionnaire
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale
MRC Social Performance Schedule
WHO Quality of Life questionnaire

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Tze Kin LAU, MD, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: December 1, 2003

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 21, 2006
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 21, 2006
• First Posted (Estimate): February 22, 2006

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): February 22, 2006
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 21, 2006
• Last Verified: February 1, 2006

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 4423/03M