Abstract:

Objective To evaluate whether Cesarean for the first pregnancy can lower the incidence of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) during the second pregnancy. Methods Two hundred and forty-six pregnant multiparas aged between 20 to 35 years who had one term of delivery were selected. The weight of newborn infants was 2 500 to 4 000 g. The duration between two pregnancy was no more than five years. There was no pregnancy-related complications. These women were divided into vaginal delivery group (gave birth to the first child through vagina, n=128) and cesarean group (terminated the first term of pregnancy by cesarean, n=118). All of them were followed up by telephone two weeks after the second delivery, the incidences of SUI during two terms of pregnancy were obtained, and the incidences of SUI were compared between two groups. Results The incidence of SUI during the second term of pregnancy in cesarean group was 40.7%,  which was higher than that in vaginal delivery group (36.7%), and there was no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05). Multiple Logistic regression analysis of age, body weight, gestation week at delivery, time from the first delivery and way of first delivery indicated that there was no correlation of way of first delivery with incidence of SUI during the second term of pregnancy (P>0.05). Conclusion Cesarean has no protective effect on SUI during the subsequent pregnancy.

Key words: pregnancy, stress urinary incontinence, multipara, cesarean section, vaginal delivery