the effect of health education using behavior intention model on of cesarean in khomainy-shahr, iran

background : cesarean section rates are rising in many countries and the result of it is increase in maternal and prenatal morbidity and mortality rates. we assessed the content and concurrent validity of constructs of behavioral intention model (bim) scales to evaluate safer choices by pregnant women to select their method of delivery. methods: this was a quasi-experimental study that carried out on 140 women with their first pregnancies in khomeiny-shahr (2006). data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire, before and after education, in experiment and control groups. for data analysis, t-paired, t-test, chi-square, and wilcoxon test were used (α ≤ 0.5) results: the mean grade scores of knowledge of experiment group about information of delivery, before intervention was 5.7 out of 10 that increased to 8.7 after intervention. there were significant differences between attitude of experiment group before and after intervention (p < 0.001). t-paired test revealed significant difference between the intention of participants in experiment group for vaginal delivery, before and after intervention. the data showed that the proportion of cesarean section in participants was 57.2% that in control group is very higher than experiment group (60% to 40%). chi square test revealed significant difference between the methods of delivery of participants in two groups (p < 0.026). conclusion: the bim has potential for providing the foundation to educational intervention at the individual and community. it can be therefore, recommended that the application of this model may change and improve different behaviors including method of delivery. key words: behavior intention model (bim), cesarean, vaginal delivery