Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of the two study groups
| Women who used therapeutic dose of LMWH (N=95) | Women who did not use LMWH (N=524) | |
| Age, years median (range) | 32 (21–43) | 31 (18–44) |
| Ethnicity N (%) | ||
| Caucasian | 67 (70) | 264 (50) |
| African | 14 (15) | 167 (32) |
| Others/unknown* | 14 (15) | 93 (18) |
| Gestational age, weeks median (range) | 39 (26–44) | 39 (25–43) |
| Delivery route | ||
| Vaginal N (% of all women) | 73 (77) | 472 (90) |
| Normal delivery (% of vaginal deliveries) | 67 (92) | 437 (93) |
| Assisted delivery (% of vaginal deliveries) | 6 (8) | 35 (7) |
| Caesarean section N (% of all women) | 22 (23) | 52 (10) |
| Primary caesarean section (% of caesarean sections) | 11 (50) | 5 (10) |
| Emergency caesarean section (% of caesarean sections) | 11 (50) | 47 (90) |
| Perineal laceration degree N (% of vaginal deliveries) | ||
| 1st degree | 7 (10) | 43 (9) |
| 2nd degree, episiotomy | 12 (16) | 59 (12) |
| 2nd degree, spontaneous rupture | 24 (33) | 100 (22) |
| 3rd degree | 0 (0) | 7 (1) |
| No laceration | 29 (40) | 263 (56) |
| Unknown | 1 (1) | – |
| Birth weight, grams median (range) | 3150 (365–4290) | 3235 (555–5035) |
| Indication for LMWH administration N (% of all women) | ||
| History of VTE | 15 (16) | |
| History of VTE and thrombophilia | 52 (55) | |
| Current VTE† | 11 (12) | |
| Current VTE† and thrombophilia | 2 (2) | |
| Recurrent thrombophlebitis and thrombophilia | 1 (1) | |
| Antiphospholipid syndrome | 4 (4) | |
| Pre-eclampsia | 1 (1) | |
| Prosthetic heart valve | 7 (7) | |
| Prosthetic heart valve + current heart thrombosis | 1 (1) | |
| Current CVA | 1 (1) | |
*
Data on ethnicity for two cases were missing.
†
VTE during current pregnancy.
CVA, cerebrovascular accident; LMWH, low-molecular-weight heparin; VTE, venous thromboembolism.