Table 3 Women´s preference of type of birth according to parity and type of model of care

Preference of type of birth in early pregnancy

 < 0.001

 < 0.001

 Vaginal

1825

64.1

1428

68.5

397

52.1

911

46.8

340

69.8

572

39.1

 C-section

745

26.2

467

22.4

278

36.5

900

46.2

132

27.2

767

52.5

 No preference

275

9.7

188

9.0

87

11.4

137

7.0

15

3.0

122

8.4

Reasons to prefer vaginal birth:

 Benefits of vaginal birth

1577

86.4

1247

87.4

329

83.0

0.054

671

73.7

244

71.9

427

74.7

0.421

 Fear of C-section

116

6.3

99

7.0

16

4.1

0.083

46

5.1

22

6.5

24

4.2

0.221

 Benefits for the child

180

9.9

149

10.4

31

7.9

0.155

58

6.3

18

5.3

40

7.0

0.443

 Information

308

17.0

236

16.5

73

18.6

0.412

117

12.8

44

13.1

73

12.7

0.898

 Other women´s histories

154

8.5

125

8.8

29

7.4

0.422

45

5.0

25

7.3

20

3.6

0.019

 Previous positive experience with vaginal birth

234

25.7

137

40.3

98

17.0

 < 0.001

 Previous negative experience with C-section

67

7.3

13

3.7

54

9.5

0.005

Reasons to prefer C-section

 Fear of labor pain

424

56.8

270

57.9

153

55.1

0.512

272

30.2

38

28.5

234

30.5

0.616

 Fear of vaginal birth

47

6.3

32

6.9

15

5.2

0.413

28

3.2

1

0.6

28

3.6

0.050

 Information

35

4.7

22

4.7

14

4.9

0.902

25

2.7

5

3.9

20

2.5

0.333

 Convenience

75

10.0

41

8.8

34

12.2

0.192

55

6.1

9

6.8

46

6.0

0.694

 Safety

10

1.3

6

1.3

4

1.3

0.990

4

0.4

1

0.4

3

0.4

0.948

 Benefits for the child

5

0.7

3

0.7

2

0.7

0.895

2

0.2

1

0.6

1

0.2

0.285

 Woman´s health problems

85

11.4

47

10.0

38

13.6

0.207

81

9.0

11

8.4

70

9.1

0.826

 Other women´s histories

114

15.3

76

16.2

39

13.9

0.428

42

4.7

8

6.1

34

4.5

0.409

 Twin pregnancy

10

1.3

2

0.5

7

2.6

0.014

16

1.8

0

16

2.1

0.177

 Tubal ligation

81

9.0

16

12.4

64

8.4

0.096

 Previous C-section

78

8.6

19

14.6

58

7.6

0.008

 Previous positive experience with C-section

345

38.4

37

28.2

308

40.2

0.005

 Previous negative experience with vaginal birth

82

9.1

20

15.0

62

8.0

0.020

Changed preference during pregnancy

 Vaginal to C-section

326

17.9

204

14.3

122

30.8

 < 0.001

193

21.2

46

13.7

146

25.6

 < 0,001

 C-section to Vaginal

156

21.0

123

26.4

33

11.8

 < 0.001

45

5.0

12

9.3

32

4.2

0.005

Reasons for changing preference (vaginal to C-section)

 Woman´s health problem

101

30.8

65

32.1

35

28.7

0.512

53

27.4

13

29.1

39

26.9

0.799

 Fetus condition

101

31.0

52

25.6

49

40.0

0.008

53

27.5

12

26.5

41

27.8

0.869

 Information provided by obstetrician

30

9.3

16

7.9

14

11.7

0.293

35

17.9

8

16.4

27

18.4

0.801

 Convenience of C-section

42

12.9

29

14.2

13

10.8

0.361

17

8.9

4

9.6

13

8.6

0.835

 Fear of vaginal birth

76

23.3

59

29.1

17

13.5

0.001

32

16.5

7

15.2

25

16.9

0.833

 Previous C-section

6

3.0

1

1.8

5

3.4

0.540

 Tubal ligation

7

3.6

2

4.1

5

3.5

0.809

Reasons for changing preference (C-section to vaginal)

 Benefits of a vaginal birth

38

24.1

32

25.7

6

18.0

0.392

14

30.7

4

29.8

10

31.0

0.933

 Family and friends

17

10.8

13

10.4

4

12.2

0.826

3

6.5

1

5.8

2

6.8

0.884

 Fear of C-section

13

8.1

12

9.4

1

3.1

0.147

4

8.0

1

3.8

3

9.6

0.398

 Information provided by obstetrician

52

33.2

44

35.8

8

23.4

0.207

16

35.2

4

32.5

12

36.2

0.788

 Other sources of information

69

44.1

50

40.3

19

58.4

0.114

7

16.2

3

22.1

4

13.9

0.437

Preference of type of birth at the end of pregnancy

 < 0.001

 < 0.001

 Vaginal

1655

58.1

1347

64.6

307

40.3

764

39.2

306

62.8

459

31.4

 C-section

914

32.1

547

26.2

368

48.2

1046

53.7

166

34.2

880

60.2

 Not informed

278

9.8

191

9.1

87

11.4

138

7.1

15

3.0

123

8.4