Tubal ligation at cesarean delivery in five Asian centers: a comparison with tubal ligation soon after vaginal delivery

Increasingly more tubal sterilizations are being performed at the time of cesarean section in the United States and probably also in developing countries. This descriptive study provides us with hitherto unavailable information on the impact of this combined procedure on the women undergoing it. Five Asian centers were included for study. In these centers, 618 women had concurrent tubal ligation at cesarean section in 1973 and 1974. During this period, 3399 women had tubal ligation soon after term vaginal deliveries. The much higher morbidity and mortality in the former group were judged to be attributable to the indications leading to, or the complications of, cesarean section and not to the concurrent tubal ligation. Women undergoing the combined procedure of tubal ligation and cesarean section were more likely to have characteristics associated with later regretting the sterilization.