Table 1.
Characteristics of the primigravidae with diastasis recti abdominal in the study (n=41)
| Characteristic | Control group | Interventional group | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of participants | 20 | 21 | ||
| Maternal age (yr) | 29±4.06 | 27±2.96 | 0.185* | |
| Height (cm) | 156±6.84 | 158±4.96 | 0.647* | |
| Body weight (kg) | ||||
| Weight at pregnancy | 68±17.36 | 68±9.53 | 0.465* | |
| Weight at postpartum | 56±16.69 | 58±9.15 | 0.267* | |
| BMI (kg/m2) | ||||
| BMI at pregnancy | 26±9.52 | 26±6.77 | 0.676* | |
| BMI at postnatal | 21±8.91 | 22±5.69 | 0.375* | |
| Ethnicity | ||||
| Malay | 17 (85.0) | 19 (90.5) | 0.810† | |
| Chinese | 2 (10.0) | 1 (4.8) | ||
| Other | 1 (5.0) | 1 (4.7) | ||
| Education level | 0.454‡ | |||
| Secondary | 5 (25.0) | 3 (14.3) | ||
| Tertiary | 15 (75.0) | 18 (85.7) | ||
| Work status | 0.454‡ | |||
| Working | 17 (85.0) | 15 (71.4) | ||
| Not working | 3 (15.0) | 6 (28.6) | ||
| Antenatal health status | 0.158† | |||
| Healthy | 15 (75.0) | 20 (95.0) | ||
| Hypertension | 2 (10.0) | - | ||
| Diabetes | 3 (15.0) | 1 (5.0) | ||
| Pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy | 13 (65.0) | 15 (71.4) | 0.658† | |
| Pelvic girdle pain during postpartum | 7 (35.0) | 10 (50.0) | 0.412† | |
| Intrapartum history | ||||
| Duration of second stage of labor (min) | 24±15.81 | 26±19.73 | 0.814* | |
| Neonatal birth weight (kg) | 3±0.38 | 3±0.27 | 0.273* | |
| Episiotomy | 10 (50.0) | 16 (76.0) | 0.082† | |
| Tear | 5 (25.0) | 3 (14.0) | 0.454‡ | |
| Postpartum practice | ||||
| Massage | 8 (38.0) | 6 (30.0) | 0.796† | |
| Wearing a corset | 15 (71.4) | 15 (75.0) | 0.440† | |
| Breastfeeding | 17 (80.9) | 16 (80.0) | 0.697‡ | |
| Carer during postpartum | 0.743† | |||
| Husband | 4 (19.0) | 4 (19.0) | ||
| Mother | 12 (57.1) | 12 (57.1) | ||
| Mother-in-law | 4 (19.0) | 4 (19.0) | ||
Values are presented as mean±standard deviation or number (%).
BMI, body mass index.
*
By Mann-Whitney U test.
†
By chi-square test.
‡
By Fisher’s exact test.