IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/nuhsci/v19y2017i3p351-357.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Incidence of episiotomy in Slovenia: The story behind the numbers

Author

Listed:
  • Anita Jug Došler
  • Ana Polona Mivšek
  • Ivan Verdenik
  • Teja Škodič Zakšek
  • Tina Levec
  • Petra Petročnik

Abstract

Episiotomy is a surgical cut of the perineum performed in the second stage of labor in order to widen the vaginal opening and thus facilitate the birth of an infant. Despite current recommendations against the routine use of episiotomy, it is one of the most commonly performed surgical interventions during childbirth. This retrospective study explores the number of episiotomies performed in Slovenian maternity hospitals and the differences in episiotomy rates in relation to parity. Data were obtained from the Slovenian National Perinatal Information System and pooled for 2013. A causal and non‐experimental method of empirical research was used. The results of the study show that episiotomy rates vary widely across Slovenian maternity hospitals, ranging from 2.5% to 51.7%. Moreover, the majority of Slovenian maternity hospitals exceed the recommended rate, with an overall incidence of episiotomy as high as 31.3%. Further research is recommended to obtain relevant information from women as well as from midwives and to draw new, evidence‐based conclusions related to the maternal benefits and adverse effects of episiotomy.

Suggested Citation

  • Anita Jug Došler & Ana Polona Mivšek & Ivan Verdenik & Teja Škodič Zakšek & Tina Levec & Petra Petročnik, 2017. "Incidence of episiotomy in Slovenia: The story behind the numbers," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 351-357, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:nuhsci:v:19:y:2017:i:3:p:351-357
    DOI: 10.1111/nhs.12352
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12352
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/nhs.12352?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:nuhsci:v:19:y:2017:i:3:p:351-357. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1442-2018 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.