About a third of pregnant women in the country chose to have a cesarean section over natural childbirth, a poll showed Sunday.

The survey of 951 married women aged between 15 and 44 by the state-run Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs showed that 34.3 percent underwent C-section, while the remaining 65.7 percent chose natural childbirth as the delivery method.

C-section was more common among older women and among first-time mothers, the poll found.

It also showed that 22.3 percent of those choosing C-section cited cephalopelvic disproportion, a labor complication in which the mother's pelvis is not big enough, while other reasons for the operation were also mostly related to the health of the fetus. (Yonhap news)