International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | April 2015 | Vol 3 | Issue 4 Page 836 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Owa OO et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2015 Apr;3(4):836-840 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Research Article Factors associated with episiotomy among parturients delivering in a tertiary care centre in Nigeria Olorunfemi Oludele Owa 1 *, Akinbowale Romance Eniowo 2 , Olayinka Stephen Ilesanmi 3 INTRODUCTION Episiotomy is defined as surgical incision of the perineum to facilitate delivery. 1 The surgical incision made into the perineum- the region between the vagina and the anus- to widen the vaginal opening for delivery was introduced as an obstetric procedure in the eighteenth century, 2 was first reported as far back as 1741. 3 The complications of perineal trauma following childbirth include hemorrhage, haematoma and abscess formation, perineal pain and discomfort, fistula formation, dyspareunia and anal incontinence. In addition, there has been an increase in ligation related to the complications of perineal trauma following childbirth. 1 It is a well-documented fact that episiotomy is the most commonly performed procedure in obstetrics. 1,4-6 A policy of routine episiotomy was widely practiced at the turn of 20 th century. This policy led to high rates of episiotomy in many countries, reaching 30% in Europe, 7 62.5% in the USA, 8 80% in Argentina 9 and about 100% ABSTRACT Background: The use of routine episiotomy is now less favoured among obstetricians. Given considerable evidence, it use increases maternal morbidity without evidence to support maternal or neonatal benefit. Objectives: To determine the current rate of episiotomy among parturients delivering at Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria and to identify factors associated with episiotomy. Methods: The retrospective study was conducted using the delivery records between 1 st January 2012 and 31 st December 2012. Information was obtained from the delivery register and medical records. There were 802 booked patients who had singleton vaginal deliveries between the studied periods. A total of 728 of these patients’ case records were obtained for analysis using SPSS 17. Results: The incidence of episiotomy was 9.3%. Those age <20 years, nulliparous, those who had assisted breech and instrumental deliveries had more episiotomy (P <0.0001). All the instrumental deliveries and most assisted breech deliveries (67%) were taken by the doctors. Episiotomies were more common when doctors took deliveries (Doctor vs. Nurses: 28.6% vs. 5.8%) (P <0.0001). Conclusion: While this study has identified factors associated with episiotomy, the episiotomy rate remain within normal rate at the studied centre. It is pertinent that health care providers always bear in mind the standard indications for episiotomy. This will go a long way in reducing the episiotomy rate and maintaining the recommended WHO rate of 10%. Keywords: Episiotomy, Delivery, Parturients, Records, Instrumental deliveries 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mother and Child Hospital, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Federal Medical Centre Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria 3 Department of Community Health, Federal Medical Centre Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria Received: 17 February 2015 Accepted: 08 March 2015 *Correspondence: Dr. Olorunfemi Oludele Owa, E-mail: owaolorunfemi@yahoo.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: 10.5455/2320-6012.ijrms20150403