Table 1.
Baseline clinical characteristics of babies in the long and short birth depression groups.
| Long birth depression group (n = 201) | Short birth depression group (n = 207) | Mean/% differenceb | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maternal age, year | 25.0 ± 4.7 | 23.7 ± 4.4 | 1.3 (0.4, −2.2) | 0.006 |
| Booked pregnancies | 194/201 (96.5%) | 192/204 (94.1%) | 2.4 (−1.7, 6.5) | 0.254 |
| Primigravida | 116/200 (58.0%) | 119/207 (57.5%) | 0.5 (−9.1, 10.1) | 0.917 |
| Diabetes | 2/201 (1.0%) | 0/207 (0.0%) | 1.0 (−0.01, 0.03) | 0.242 |
| Maternal pyrexia | 7/191 (3.7%) | 1/197 (0.5%) | 3.2 (0.3, 6.0) | 0.029 |
| Rupture of membranes >24 h | 1/189 (0.5%) | 3/195 (1.5%) | −1.0 (−0.03, 0.01) | 0.606 |
| Meconium-stained liquor | 69/193 (35.8%) | 41/199 (20.6%) | 15.1 (6.4, 23) | 0.001 |
| Reduced fetal movements | 17/165 (10.3%) | 7/170 (4.1%) | 6.2 (0.7, 11.7) | 0.028 |
| Funisitis | 27/179 (15.1%) | 39/187 (20.8%) | −5.7 (−0.12, 0.02) | 0.151 |
| Perinatal sentinel events | 34/201 (16.9%) | 9/207 (4.3%) | 12.6 (0.06, 0.18) | <0.001 |
| Instrumental delivery | 29/201 (14.4%) | 11/205 (5.4%) | 9.1 (3.3, 14.8) | 0.002 |
| Caesarean delivery | 57/201 (28.4%) | 26/205 (12.7%) | 15.6 (8.0, 23.4) | <0.001 |
| Infant size and condition | ||||
| Birth weight, grams | 2863 ± 479 | 2919 ± 429 | −56 (−144, 32) | 0.216 |
| Gestational age, weeks | 38.9 ± 1.4 | 38.9 ± 1.2 | 0.0 (−0.3, 0.2) | 0.856 |
| Head circumference, cm | 34.3 ± 1.6 | 34.2 ± 1.4 | 0.1 (−0.2, 0.4) | 0.447 |
| Age at admission to the NICU, minutes | 114.4 ± 97.7 | 178.7 ± 85.3 | −64.3 (−82.1, −46.4) | <0.001 |
| Cord pHb | 6.9 ± 0.2 (n = 43) | 7.1 ± 0.1 (n = 3) | −0.2 (−0.4, 0.1) | 0.261 |
| Intubation at birth | 178/201 (88.6%) | 0/200 (0.0%) | 88.6 (0.83, 0.92) | <0.001 |
| Cardiac massage | 35/201 (17.4%) | 8/200 (4.0%) | 13.4 (0.08, 0.19) | <0.001 |
| Drugs during resuscitation | 43/201 (21.4%) | 6/200 (3.0%) | 18.4 (12.2, 0.24) | <0.001 |
| Males | 129/201 (64.2%) | 138/207 (66.7%) | −2.5 (−11.7, 6.7) | 0.604 |
| Induced hypothermia | 100/201 (49.8%) | 102/207 (49.3%) | 0.5 (−0.09, 0.10) | 1.000 |
| Severe encephalopathy | 66/201 (32.8%) | 14/207 (6.8%) | 26.1 (18.7, 33.4) | <0.001 |
| Seizures at randomisation | 135/201 (67.2%) | 164/207 (79.2%) | −12.1 (−20.6, −3.5) | 0.007 |
| Age of seizure onseta | 2 [1, 5] | 2 [1, 4] | 0 (0.0, 0.5) | 0.576 |
a
Figures reported are median [inter-quartile range] and median difference (95% confidence interval).
b
Data are based on 43 babies in long birth depression group and 3 babies in short birth depression group.