Table 1.
Recruitment details and socioeconomic characteristics according to allocation to extra postnatal support or control group. Figures are numbers of women unless stated otherwise
| Intervention group | Control group | P value* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) age (years) | 27.5 (5.8) | 28.0 (5.7) | 0.33† |
| Mean (SD) birth weight (grams) | 3443.8 (544.6) | 3435.2 (475.5) | 0.83† |
| Mean (SD) parity | 1.9 (1.1) | 1.8 (1.0) | 0.78‡ |
| Spontaneous onset of labour | 212/311 | 228/312 | 0.21 |
| Twin birth | 9/311 | 1/312 | 0.01§ |
| Elective caesarean section | 25/311 | 24/312 | 0.87 |
| Emergency caesarean section | 30/311 | 32/312 | 0.80 |
| Used TENS machine | 38/311 | 21/312 | 0.02 |
| General anaesthetic | 12/311 | 6/312 | 0.15 |
| Receiving housing benefit | 90/305 | 89/305 | 0.93 |
| Owner occupier (mortgage) | 174/310 | 172/311 | 0.65 |
| Rented (local authority/council) | 103/310 | 109/311 | 0.38 |
| Central heating in home | 282/306 | 287/308 | 0.65 |
| Car available for use | 244/311 | 236/310 | 0.38 |
| Paid job in past 6 months | 188/309 | 185/303 | 0.78 |
| One or more children under 16 living with mother | 166/311 | 181/311 | 0.23 |
| One or more adults aged 18 and over living with mother | 269/309 | 244/307 | 0.01 |
| Enough room in home | 287/308 | 296/308 | 0.19 |
TENS=transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.
*
All from χ2 test, except †t test, ‡Mann-Whitney test, §Fisher's exact test.