Postnatal Urinary Incontinence after Caesarean Section

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of urinary incontinence in women who have undergone Caesarean section, and to identify the risk factors for post-Caesarean urinary incontinence.
Methods: The study took place in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a tertiary hospital in Hong Kong. During the research period, consecutive parturients, who had delivered by Caesarean section and had no history of a vaginal delivery, were recruited in the postnatal wards and followed up for 3 months.
Results: From March 2007 to July 2007, 498 consecutive parturients were recruited. The incidence of urinary incontinence during pregnancy was 51.0%, which dropped to 6.5% at 3 months after delivery. It was found that body weight before pregnancy (54.10 kg vs 52.27 kg, p=0.015) and body mass index (21.9 kg/m2 vs 21.0 kg/m2, p=0.004) affected the prevalence of urinary incontinence both during pregnancy and 3 months after delivery. These effects were statistically significant. Moreover, age affected the prevalence of urinary incontinence at 3 months after delivery (35.46 vs 32.09, p=0.039), but not during pregnancy.
Conclusion: This study shows that in women who undergo Caesarean section, age, pre-pregnancy body weight and body mass index affect the prevalence of urinary incontinence after delivery.