Clinical Effectiveness Support Unit Caesarean Section Rates in England

Title: Caesarean Section Rates in England and Wales: Investigating variation between maternity units In England and Wales, the Caesarean section (CS) rate is 21.5%, ranging from 6 % to 66 % between maternity units. The impact of a high CS rate on women's health and NHS resources is not clear. Case-mix differences should be taken into account to enable valid comparisons and exploration of factors contributing to this variation. An understanding of these factors is important to ensure quality of obstetric care. The aim of this thesis was to explore the variation in CS rates between maternity units and evaluate the impact of (I) case-mix and (ii) women's birth preferences usin