Introduction

Caesarean section (henceforth CS), a surgical incision performed as a method of childbirth, is usually chosen based on medical indications (Mander, 2007). However, there are cases when CS demanded or elective (Mander, 2007). The World Health Organisation (WHO) suggest that the rate to CS should not exceed 10-15 % of all deliveries (WHO, 2015). Beyond such figures, there may be an indication of caesarean deliveries based on non-clinical grounds and may indicate its overuse (WHO, 2015), which has health and financial consequences. Medically unnecessary CS pose a higher risk of post-partum morbidity (Souza et al., 2010) and also a loss of economic resources which could be used for other more beneficial objectives (Gibbons et al., 2012).
There is an upward trend of CS deliveries in developing countries (Stanton & Holtz, 2006). In Indonesia, the trend is the in a similar direction. The study by Hatt et al. (2007) assessed the trends in rates of CS delivery in Indonesia from 1986 to 2002 by wealth quintile and found an increasing trend of CS delivery especially among wealthiest women. However, the authors of that study did not address other determinants as their objective was to evaluate the village midwife programme in Indonesia (Hatt et al., 2007). Hence, determinants of CS delivery are not well understood. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate spatial, obstetric, and sociodemographic correlates of caesarean section delivery in Indonesia. We do this by analysing the recent Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey 2012 (henceforth 2012 IDHS).