This study aimed to analyze aspects related to choice of type of delivery in two maternity hospitals, one public and the other private, in São Luís, Maranhão State, Brazil. This cross-sectional study compared 163 primiparous women in a public maternity hospital and 89 in a private hospital, with mean ages of 21.63 ± 5.24 and 28.8 ± 5.41 years, respectively. In the public hospital, 79.1% of the women reported preferring vaginal deliveries, while in the private hospital 67.4% of the women preferred cesareans (p < 0.0001). Cesareans were performed in 46% of the women in the public maternity hospital and 97.8% of those in the private hospital (p < 0.0001). Patient satisfaction was high for both modes of delivery, but the desire to repeat the same mode was reported more frequently by women with vaginal deliveries (71.6% vs. 41.3% in the public maternity hospital and 100% vs. 65.5% in the private). In the public maternity hospital, the cesarean subgroup included more white and higher-income women. The cesarean rate was thus high in both maternity hospitals and was significantly higher in the private hospital; the study also showed a preference for vaginal delivery in the public hospital and cesareans in the private.
Obstetric Delivery; Maternity Hospitals; Comparative Study
