The authors studied the incidence of cesarean sections in deliveries in Ribeirão Preto (SP) hospitals before and after the implementation, by social security, of equal remuneration to the physician for surgical and non-surgical deliveries. Equal remuneration did not alter the increasing tendency of the incidence of cesarean sections in the years studied (1978-1981). Differences were observed in cesarean ratios between non payer patients (lowest ratio) and particular patients (highest ratio), staying the patients of social security in an intermediate level. These differences must be due to different patterns of care give to the patients, according to their social class.
