Table 2.
Obstetric interventions and maternal outcomes among the 12 982 women in the study
| Variable | 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 |
|
| Obstetric intervention | |||
| Electronic fetal monitoring | 394 (13.6) | 1992 (41.9) | 4201 (78.8) |
| External tocometer | 389 (13.4) | 1970 (41.5) | 4164 (78.1) |
| Fetal scalp electrode | 60 (2.1) | 247 (5.2) | 548 (10.3) |
| Augmentation of labour | 688 (23.7) | 1897 (39.9) | 2689 (50.4) |
| Amniotomy | 560 (19.3) | 1518 (31.9) | 2112 (39.6) |
| Oxytocin | 172 (5.9) | 603 (12.7) | 981 (18.4) |
| Analgesia during labour | |||
| Nitrous oxide | 199 (6.9) | 1565 (32.9) | 2887 (54.2) |
| Epidural | 224 (7.7) | 901 (19.0) | 1487 (27.9) |
| Narcotic | 122 (4.2) | 713 (15.0) | 1877 (35.2) |
| Mode of delivery | |||
| Spontaneous vaginal | 2605 (89.9) | 3910 (82.3) | 4007 (75.2) |
| Assisted vaginal | 86 (3.0) | 344 (7.2) | 736 (13.8) |
| Cesarean | 208 (7.2) | 498 (10.5) | 588 (11.0) |
| Among nulliparous women | 158/1215 (13.0) | 453/2428 (18.7) | 481/2204 (21.8) |
| Among multiparous women | 50/1684 (3.0) | 45/2324 (1.9) | 107/3127 (3.4) |
| Primary indication for cesarean delivery | |||
| Breech | 34 (1.2) | 0 | 0 |
| Dystocia | 79 (2.7) | 253 (5.3) | 288 (5.4) |
| Nonreassuring fetal heart rate | 32 (1.1) | 112 (2.4) | 143 (2.7) |
| Repeat cesarean section | 2 (0.1) | 0 | 0 |
| Malposition or malpresentation | 39 (1.3) | 89 (1.9) | 78 (1.5) |
| Other | 22 (0.8) | 44 (0.9) | 79 (1.5) |
| Episiotomy among vaginal deliveries | 84/2691 (3.1) | 289/4254 (6.8) | 800/4743 (16.9) |
| Maternal outcome | |||
| Prolapsed cord | 2 (0.1) | 6 (0.1) | 9 (0.2) |
| Uterine rupture | 0 | 0 | 2 (0.04) |
| Postpartum hemorrhage | 110 (3.8) | 285 (6.0) | 357 (6.7) |
| Blood transfusion | 2 (0.1) | 10 (0.2) | 15 (0.3) |
| Obstetric shock | 1 (0.03) | 1 (0.02) | 1 (0.02) |
| Death | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manual removal of placenta | 28 (1.0) | 85 (1.8) | 90 (1.7) |
| Uterine prolapse | 1 (0.03) | 1 (0.02) | 2 (0.04) |
| Infection | |||
| Pyrexia* | 19 (0.7) | 68 (1.4) | 154 (2.9) |
| Urinary tract infection | 0 | 1 (0.02) | 5 (0.1) |
| Puerpural fever | 1 (0.03) | 4 (1.0) | 7 (0.1) |
| Wound infection | 0 | 11 (0.2) | 16 (0.3) |
| Perineal tear | |||
| None | 1578 (54.4) | 2189 (46.1) | 2291 (43.0) |
| First- or second-degree tear | 1262 (43.5) | 2387 (50.2) | 2836 (53.2) |
| Third- or fourth-degree tear | 34 (1.2) | 137 (2.9) | 183 (3.4 ) |
| Degree of tear unknown | 25 (0.9) | 39 (0.8) | 21 (0.4) |
| Cervical tear | 2 (0.1) | 5 (0.1) | 4 (0.1) |
*
Temperature > 38°C.