Although there have been several publications using the Robson classification in Australia, to our knowledge there are no previous studies in Victoria. It is important to publish more data to compare practices, to evaluate the extent to which CS rates in Australia are aligned with best practice and to benchmark strategies to reduce the CS rates in Australia. The aims of this study are to determine the overall CS rate in two hospitals of the Eastern Health (EH) network, and analyse the contribution of specific obstetric population to changes in CS rates over time by using the Robson classification.

The challenge is to maintain a reasonable low CS rate reflecting good access to quality health care and good medical practice while maintaining good perinatal outcomes, a challenge that only few countries have managed to achieve ¹¹.