Table 4.

Birth characteristics and outcomes among multiparas at low risk. Values are percentages

Birth characteristics and outcome	Private patients		Public patients (all hospitals) (n=35 825)
	Private hospitals (n=8439)	Public hospitals (n=6775)
Maternal age (years)*:
20-24	3.5	5.3	22.7
25-29	34.5	36.2	41.7
30-34	61.9	58.5	35.6
Type of labour*:
Spontaneous	55.3	64.3	76.8
Augmented	7.2	6.6	4.8
Induced	22.9	18.9	12.9
No labour	14.5	10.2	6.5
Delivery*:
Vaginal	74.3	80.8	88.0
Forceps	4.2	2.4	1.3
Vacuum	3.4	3.1	1.3
Caesarean section before labour	14.5	10.2	6.5
Caesarean section after labour	3.5	3.3	2.9
Epidural*	31.3	16.8	9.2
Episiotomy†	19.2	14.6	7.0
Third degree tear†	0.2	0.3	0.9
Apgar score <7 at 5 minutes*	0.8	0.6	0.9

^*Distribution of these factors significantly (P<0.001) different among three groups with χ² tests. 

^†Among vaginal births.