TY - JOUR AB - Purpose There are so many studies which evaluated the maternal quality of life based on their delivery type with different results. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of type of delivery on the maternal QOL systematically.Design/methodology/approach In this systematic review, which was conducted for 15 years (2000-2016), the international databases including PubMed, Scopes and ISI and the Persian databases were searched using the following words: quality of life or health-related quality of life, vaginal delivery, cesarean delivery or cesarean section. PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) was adopted for this study. The quality of articles was assessed by a checklist that has been used in previous studies. All of the data analysis was performed using STATA ver.12.Findings In total, 13 articles were included in the present systematic review and meta-analysis. The overall sample included 8,136 women (3,990 cesareans vs 4,146 vaginal). The results of the random effect model for eight QOL dimensions based on SF-36 questionnaire showed that there was no significant difference between two groups in terms of QOL. But this model for four QOL dimensions of WHOQOL showed that the maternal in two groups had a significant difference in two dimensions of QOL (mental health and total health) and insignificant difference in other dimensions.Research limitations/implications The results of the study may have been affected by the selection of few databases. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions in further databases.Practical implications The study results could be helpful to design appropriate policies for maternal based on their type of delivery.Originality/value This systematic review showed that despite the insignificant difference between women with vaginal delivery vs women with cesarean delivery in some aspects of QOL, it can be concluded that health status of women with vaginal delivery is better than women with cesarean delivery, so it should be considered in the setting of appropriate policies and implementation framework to encourage women for choosing the appropriate delivery type. VL - 11 IS - 3 SN - 2056-4902 DO - 10.1108/IJHRH-01-2018-0001 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-01-2018-0001 AU - Rezaei Satar AU - Salimi Yahya AU - Zahirian Moghadam Telma AU - Mirzarahimi Tiba AU - Mehrtak Mohammad AU - Zandian Hamed PY - 2018 Y1 - 2018/01/01 TI - Quality of life after vaginal and cesarean deliveries: a systematic review and meta-analysis T2 - International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 165 EP - 175 Y2 - 2024/04/24 ER -