Delivery by Cesarean section is increasing worldwide and this is the most important risk factor for post partum infection where there is a 5-20% risk of developing post partum infection than women who deliver vaginally Provision of single dose broad spectrum intravenous antibiotics 30-60 minutes before cesarean section has been found to be as effective as multiple doses in reducing post operative infections. At Mulago National referral Hospital mothers who have had elective and are at low risk of post partum infection also receive multiple doses of intravenous antibiotics for up to 7 days. The rationale of the study is to further inform us that single dose preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis is effective in prevention of post operative infection in mothers delivered by elective cesarean section.

This is going to be an open label randomized controlled clinical trial that will involve 174 mothers delivered by elective cesarean section in Mulago National Referral hospital ward 5B antenatal and post natal wards.

Mulago hospital is at the apex of a 6 tier health system and is the largest public hospital with 31,400 deliveries annually 26.14% by cesarean section and of these 5.6% are elective cesarean sections.

Simple randomization was done where 174 cards were numbered 1-174 {(87 labelled Single Dose (SD) and 87 labelled Multiple Dose (MD)} inserted in an envelop shuffled and then the mother was allowed to pick a card randomly. This was done by the research assistant who reviewed the mother again in theater to ascertain if they still met the eligibility before the intervention was done.

Method This will be an open label single center superiority randomized clinical trial involving 174 eligible participants (87 in each arm) who will have delivered by elective cesarean section in Mulago hospital. They will be randomly allocated into two arms. One arm will receive single dose IV ceftriaxone 2g and metronidazole 500mg 30-60 minutes before the operation and the second arm will receive IV ceftraixone 1g with 500 mg of metronidazole during the operation and continue for 72 hours and discharged with oral antibiotics.

The mothers will be reviewed twice daily for evidence of infection. Their vitals (BP, Pulse, Temperature and respiratory rate), state of the wound and uterus, amount color and smell of the lochia during the first 2-3 post operative days. Both arms will have a 14 day follow up where they will come back for review on the 7th and 14th post operative day.

Objective:

The general objective is to compare the incidence of post operative infections among mothers that receive single dose pre operative Ceftriaxone and metronidazole compared to multiple doses at delivery by elective cesarean section in Mulago National Referral Hospital. at 14 day post operative.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Antenatal mothers who have an indication for elective cesarean section in New Mulago hospital.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Mothers who have a history of allergy to any of the drugs in the study, Mother with visible infection at any site or elevated body temperature before going to theatre, Those with rapture of membranes, Mothers who went into labor, Mother who has had use of antibiotics in the last 7 days, WHO Clinical HIV stage III and IV and mothers who do not consent to the study.