Global incidence of caesarean deliveries on maternal request: a systematic review and meta‐regression

BACKGROUND: Caesarean delivery on maternal request (CDMR) is considered a significant contributor to the unprecedented increase in caesarean deliveries (CDs) for nonclinical reasons. Current literature lacks a reliable assessment of the rate of CDMR, which hinders the planning and delivery of appropriate interventions for reducing CDMR rates. OBJECTIVES: To conduct a systematic review of the literature and meta-regression to explore the global incidence of CDMR. SEARCH STRATEGY: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Medline, Google scholar and grey literature were searched from January 1985 to May 2019. SELECTION CRITERIA: Observational studies that report CDMR data were included. We excluded non-English articles, case notes, editorial reviews and articles reporting elective CDs from pregnancy risk factors. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers independently conducted the…