Abstract
Background: Perineal trauma during child-birth continue despite improved care affecting maternal health and quality of life. This retrospective study aims to identify the risk factors associated with severe perineal lacerations (third and fourth-degree) in women who delivered at King Abdulaziz University hospital (KAUH), Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Results: Data related to patient characteristics, labour, delivery, maternal and neonatal outcomes were collected and analyzed using X2 analysis and independent 2-sample t-tests. Descriptive analysis showed that 29.6% had third or fourth-degree perineal lacerations. Most women (60.54%) were multiparous and 54.6% had episiotomy. Their mean age and weight were 27.8 +/- 6.03 years and 70.50 +/- 15.43 kg respectively. The mean birth weight of the baby was 3.20 +/- 0.5 kg.
Conclusions: Analysis for severe lacerations and episiotomy in this retrospective study from KAUH, identified young maternal age, primiparity, prolonged labour, macrosomia and episiotomy as risk factors for third and fourth-degree perineal lacerations.