The Comparison of Knowledge and Attitude of Midwifery and Nursing Students towards Natural Childbirth and Cesarean Section

Background & aim: Cesarean section (CS) rates have been increasing steadily, worldwide. The knowledge and attitude of health professionals towards natural childbirth and CS are important factors in selecting a mode of delivery. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitude of midwifery and nursing students towards different modes of delivery. Methods:In this descriptive, analytical study, 73 junior students of nursing and midwifery from Isfahan School of Nursing and Midwifery were selected via census sampling. Data were collected using a questionnaire. For statistical analysis, student’s t-test, Mann-Whitney and Pearson’ correlation coefficient were performed, using SPSS version 18. Results: The results showed that the 74.20% of midwifery students had a high level of knowledge about natural childbirth and the majority of nursing students had moderate (52.40%) and high (40.5%) levels of knowledge about natural childbirth. Moreover, the 80.60% of midwifery students and 28.6% of nursing students had a high level of knowledge about CS. Also, 97% of midwifery students and 78.6% of nursing students had a positive attitude towards natural childbirth. Moreover the 93.5% of midwifery students had neutral attitude about CS, while 6.5% had a negative attitude towards CS. Also, 5% of nursing students had a positive attitude towards CS, while 95% had neutral attitude about CS. Conclusion: The majority of midwifery and nursing students in answer to questions about attitude towards CS, expressed neutral attitude. Therefore, it is important to discourage positive attitudes towards elective CS while training nursing and midwifery students.