Table 1.
Characteristics of 12 982 women in British Columbia who planned a home birth or hospital birth attended by a registered midwife or planned a hospital birth attended by a physician during 2000–2004
| Characteristic | Group; no. (%) of women* | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Planned home birth with midwife
n = 2899 |
Planned hospital birth with midwife
n = 4752 |
Planned hospital birth with physician
n = 5331 |
|
| Age, yr | |||
| 15–19 | 48 (1.7) | 116 (2.4) | 92 (1.7) |
| 20–24 | 336 (11.6) | 584 (12.3) | 629 (11.8) |
| 25–29 | 892 (30.8) | 1371 (28.9) | 1644 (30.8) |
| 30–34 | 1025 (35.4) | 1682 (35.4) | 1883 (35.3) |
| ≥ 35 | 598 (20.6) | 999 (21.0) | 1083 (20.3) |
| Single parent | 91 (3.1) | 252 (5.3) | 163 (3.1) |
| Income quintile† | |||
| 1 (lowest) | 650 (23.4) | 906 (19.8) | 1088 (21.1) |
| 2 | 593 (21.3) | 910 (19.9) | 1163 (22.6) |
| 3 | 525 (18.9) | 913 (20.0) | 1006 (19.5) |
| 4 | 543 (19.5) | 984 (21.5) | 1020 (19.8) |
| 5 (highest) | 460 (16.5) | 862 (18.8) | 875 (17.0) |
| Height, cm, mean (SD) | 166.5 (6.6) | 166.4 (7.0) | 164.3 (7.0) |
| Weight before pregnancy, kg, mean (SD) | 63.1 (11.7) | 64.4 (12.7) | 62.6 (13.0) |
| Body mass index, mean (SD) | 22.8 (4.0) | 23.3 (4.3) | 23.2 (4.3) |
| Use of illicit drugs during pregnancy | 39 (1.3) | 57 (1.2) | 71 (1.3) |
| Use of alcohol during pregnancy | 10 (0.3) | 25 (0.5) | 35 (0.7) |
| Smoking status | |||
| Current | 166 (5.7) | 375 (7.9) | 487 (9.1) |
| Former | 256 (8.8) | 417 (8.8) | 211 (4.0) |
| Never | 2477 (85.4) | 3960 (83.3) | 4633 (86.9) |
| Nulliparous | 1215 (41.9) | 2428 (51.1) | 2204 (41.3) |
| Gestational age at first prenatal contact, wk, mean (SD) | 12.2 (7.0) | 12.2 (6.8) | 11.8 (5.9) |
| No. of antenatal visits, mean (SD) | 11.8 (3.3) | 11.2 (3.6) | 9.3 (2.7) |
| Ultrasound < 20 wk gestation | 1707 (58.9) | 3371 (70.9) | 4027 (75.5) |
Note: SD = standard deviation.
*
Unless indicated otherwise.
†
Percentages are based on the number of people for whom income data were available (2781 in the planned home-birth group, 4575 in the planned midwife-attended hospital-birth group and 5152 in the planned physician-attended hospital-birth group).