Table 3.
Recording of pregnancy risk factors and brief interventions and delivery of routine antenatal checks
| Item | NT Top End | NT Central Australia | Far West NSW | WA | North QLD | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of health centres | client records | 13 | 136 | 2 | 45 | 6 | 103 | 9 | 193 | 4 | 58 | 34 | 535 |
| Any use of: Cigarettes | 41% | 40% | 39% | 42% | 55% | 43%† |
| Alcohol | 12% | 27% | 19% | 25% | 31% | 22%* |
| Illicit drugs | 7% | 2% | 17% | 8% | 7% | 9% |
| 1st trimester: Cigarettes | 32% | 27% | 24% | 32% | 43% | 31% |
| Alcohol | 9% | 24% | 13% | 18% | 28% | 16% |
| Illicit drugs | 5% | 2% | 9% | 6% | 3% | 6% |
| 3rd trimester: Cigarettes | 21% | 38% | 35% | 26% | 50% | 30% |
| Alcohol | 4% | 13% | 17% | 14% | 21% | 13% |
| Illicit drugs | 3% | 0% | 15% | 6% | 7% | 6% |
| Evidence of: Social risk factors | 11% | 29% | 6% | 22% | 57% | 20%* |
| Medical risk factors | 38% | 64% | 19% | 39% | 45% | 38%* |
| Brief interventions/counselling | ||||||
| Smoking cessation‡ | 48% | 67% | 35% | 49% | 41% | 46% |
| Antenatal education | 51% | 93% | 51% | 46% | 47% | 52%* |
| Nutrition | 53% | 76% | 18% | 32% | 59% | 41%* |
| Oral health | 33% | 29% | 5% | 9% | 7% | 16%* |
| Breast feeding | 21% | 51% | 17% | 25% | 19% | 24% |
| Alcohol and other substance abuse | 37% | 56% | 12% | 39% | 34% | 34%* |
| Physical activity | 27% | 36% | 5% | 17% | 38% | 21%* |
| Mood (depression) | 14% | 51% | 11% | 20% | 19% | 19%* |
| Domestic/social environment | 24% | 58% | 10% | 16% | 29% | 22% |
| Social/family support | 38% | 73% | 5% | 29% | 24% | 30%* |
| Financial situation | 2% | 29% | 1% | 6% | 7% | 6%* |
| Housing condition | 4% | 44% | 1% | 15% | 9% | 11%* |
| Food security | 2% | 33% | 1% | 8% | 7% | 7%* |
| Routine antenatal checks | ||||||
| Before 13 weeks gestation | ||||||
| Weight | 55% | 56% | 26% | 33% | 38% | 40% |
| Maternal height | 18% | 29% | 15% | 19% | 26% | 20% |
| BMI | 6% | 27% | 2% | 14% | 7% | 10%* |
| BP | 57% | 56% | 33% | 38% | 50% | 45% |
| Urinalysis | 57% | 53% | 24% | 34% | 34% | 40%* |
| Between 13 and 24 weeks gestation | ||||||
| Fundal height | 80% | 80% | 36% | 58% | 67% | 62%* |
| FHR | 76% | 78% | 45% | 57% | 57% | 61%* |
| BP | 80% | 82% | 54% | 67% | 83% | 71% |
| Urinalysis | 79% | 76% | 29% | 61% | 59% | 61%* |
| After 24 weeks gestation | ||||||
| Fundal height | 93% | 89% | 66% | 69% | 64% | 76%* |
| FHR | 93% | 89% | 70% | 69% | 60% | 76%* |
| BP | 93% | 91% | 71% | 75% | 78% | 81%* |
| Urinalysis | 95% | 89% | 52% | 68% | 57% | 72%* |
BMI = body mass index, FHR = fetal heart rate, BP = blood pressure.
* P < 0.05 for comparisons between regions.
† The reason that the proportion of women smoking at any time in pregnancy is higher than in either the first or third trimester is that of the 228 (43%) who had smoked at any stage during pregnancy, 101 smoked in both 1st and 3rd trimesters, 66 smoked only in 1st trimester, and 61 smoked only in 3rd trimester. Thus a proportion of women appear to have taken up smoking between the 1st and 3rd trimesters and a proportion who smoked in the first trimester were reported to no longer smoke in the 3rd trimester.
‡ Among those who used cigarettes: NT Top End (n = 56); NT Central Aust (n = 18); Far West NSW (n = 40); WA (n = 82); North Qld (n = 32); total N = 228.