Can pre‐eclampsia explain higher cesarean rates in the different groups of Robson's classification?

Objective To evaluate the impact of pre‐eclampsia on cesarean delivery by using the Robson classification. Methods A retrospective cross‐sectional study including all women who delivered in a referral maternity hospital in southeast Brazil from January 2017 to February 2018. Women were classified into 1 of 10 Robson groups and then further subdivided into pre‐eclampsia (PE) and non‐PE (NPE) groups. Frequency of cesarean was determined for each group and compared by using χ2 and prevalence ratio. Results Overall, 3102 women were included, of whom 1578 (50.9%) delivered by cesarean. Classification in Robson group 5 was the most frequent among all women (n=727, 23.4%). In the PE group (n=258, 8.3%), group 10 was the most frequent classification (n=120, 46.5%); in NPE, Robson group 5 was the most frequency (n=682, 24.0%). Pre‐eclampsia was associated with a higher occurrence of cesarean (77.5% vs 48.4%; prevalence ratio, 2.29; 95% confidence interval, 1.82–2.82), owing to higher rates in Robson groups 1, 5, and 10. Conclusion Pre‐eclampsia was associated with a higher occurrence of cesarean delivery in some Robson groups. Robson classification may be used to evaluate the impact of specific conditions at a facility level to help plan future interventions to optimize the use of cesarean. Synopsis Robson classification is a tool to assess cesarean delivery that can be used to compare rates between women with specific conditions such as pre‐eclampsia.