knowledge and attitude of nulliparous pregnant women referring to the urban health care centres of semirom, iran

background: normal vaginal delivery (nvd) is defined as the best method of delivery. however, unfortunately its rate is decreasing because of the increasing rate of cesarean section (c/s). low level of knowledge about delivery mode and negative attitude toward nvd are some of the reasons for the patients selecting cesarean. the purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women about delivery methods. methods:   in this descriptive-analytical study, 104 nulliparous women in their third trimester were studied with census method. they were referring to the urban health care centers of semirom, iran. the data were collected by a questioner with demographic, knowledge and attitude questions. statistical software analysis was carried out with spss version 16. the validity and reliability of the questioner were evaluated. findings: the results showed that the majority of the participants had low (40.4%) and moderate (40.4%) knowledge and 19.2% had a high level of knowledge. 32.7% of the pregnant women had a positive attitude to vaginal delivery, 57.7% had no idea, and 9.6% had a negative attitude to vaginal delivery. there was a significant correlation between level of knowledge and education level, attitude, and occupation. however, there was no significant correlation between level of knowledge and age, age of marriage, and economic status. there was no significant correlation between attitude and age, age of marriage, education level, occupation and economic status. conclusion: the majority of pregnant women in this study had a low and moderate knowledge, and in answer to questions about their attitude toward vaginal delivery expressed that they had no  idea. therefore, it is important to set up a routine pregnancy educational classes, especially for nulliparous women. we also suggest routine monitoring and evaluation of these classes.