Table 1. Maternal and perinatal characteristics by labour status in Africa and Asia.
| AFRICA | ASIA | |||||||
| Induction with medical indication | Elective induction | Spontaneous labour | Adjusted chi squareP valuea | Induction with medical indication | Elective induction | Spontaneous labour | Adjusted chi squareP valuea | |
| N, (%) | N, (%) | N, (%) | N, (%) | N, (%) | N, (%) | |||
| TOTAL | 3,053 | 564 | 76,965 | 6,201 | 6,270 | 82,929 | ||
| Maternal age (years) b | ||||||||
| <18 | 99 (3.2) | 15 (2.7) | 3900 (5.1) | <0.001 | 67 (1.1) | 98 (1.6) | 1400 (1.7) | 0.319 |
| 18–35 | 2,488 (81.5) | 493 (87.4) | 65165 (84.7) | 5,788 (93.3) | 5,747 (91.7) | 76741 (92.5) | ||
| >35 | 452 (14.8) | 452 (14.8) | 7324 (9.5) | 345 (5.6) | 423 (6.7) | 4773 (5.8) | ||
| Marital Status b | ||||||||
| Married | 2,705 (88.6) | 510 (90.4) | 66653 (86.6) | 0.282 | 5,947 (95.9) | 6,178 (98.5) | 76867 (92.7) | <0.001 |
| Education (years) | ||||||||
| Nil | 273 (8.9) | 46 (8.2) | 10749 (14.0) | <0.001 | 533 (8.6) | 298 (4.8) | 7719 (9.3) | 0.003 |
| 1–4 | 156 (5.1) | 17 (3.0) | 4613 (6.0) | 287 (4.6) | 172 (2.7) | 4393 (5.3) | ||
| 5–9 | 980 (32.1) | 162 (28.7) | 28303 (36.8) | 1,818 (29.3) | 1,405 (22.4) | 29696 (35.8) | ||
| > = 10 | 1,441 (47.2) | 320 (56.7) | 25994 (33.8) | 3,385 (54.6) | 4,248 (67.8) | 39484 (47.6) | ||
| Missing | 203 (6.6) | 19 (3.4) | 7306 (9.5) | 178 (2.9) | 147 (2.3) | 1637 (2.0) | ||
| Parity | ||||||||
| Nil | 1,245 (40.8) | 210 (37.2) | 25946 (33.7) | 0.005 | 3,888 (62.7) | 3,324 (53.0) | 41391 (49.9) | <0.001 |
| 1 or 2 | 994 (32.6) | 204 (36.2) | 29669 (38.5) | 2,079 (33.5) | 2,671 (42.6) | 36270 (43.7) | ||
| > = 3 | 769 (25.2) | 142 (25.2) | 20701 (26.9) | 232 (3.7) | 274 (4.4) | 5210 (6.3) | ||
| Missing | 45 (1.5) | 8 (1.4) | 649 (0.8) | 2 (0.0) | 1 (0.0) | 58 (0.1) | ||
| Antenatal care | ||||||||
| Nil | 184 (6.0) | 18 (3.2) | 4084 (5.3) | <0.001 | 342 (5.5) | 52 (0.8) | 4350 (5.2) | <0.001 |
| 1 to 3 | 591 (19.4) | 117 (20.7) | 26912 (35.0) | 1,473 (23.8) | 548 (8.7) | 25948 (31.1) | ||
| > = 4 | 1,939 (63.5) | 340 (60.3) | 35258 (45.8) | 4,308 (69.5) | 5,590 (89.2) | 51795 (62.5) | ||
| Missing | 339 (11.1) | 89 (15.8) | 10711 (13.9) | 78 (1.3) | 80 (1.3) | 836 (1.0) | ||
| Maternal Height | ||||||||
| <145 cm | 42 (1.4) | 16 (2.8) | 970 (1.3) | 0.168 | 247 (4.0) | 269 (4.3) | 2659 (3.2) | 0.174 |
| 145–149.9 cm | 76 (2.5) | 30 (5.3) | 2162 (2.8) | 593 (9.6) | 845 (13.5) | 2659 (3.2) | ||
| 150–154.9 cm | 300 (9.8) | 79 (14.0) | 8099 (10.5) | 2,267 (36.6) | 2,035 (32.5) | 29363 (35.4) | ||
| > = 155 cm | 1,994 (65.3) | 307 (54.4) | 45176 (58.7) | 2,994 (48.3) | 3,067 (48.9) | 40005 (48.2) | ||
| Missing | 641 (21.0) | 132 (23.4) | 20558 (26.7) | 100 (1.6) | 54 (0.9) | 2498 (3.0) | ||
| Caesarean in previous pregnancy | 49 (1.6) | 30 (5.3) | 2938 (3.8) | 0.085 | 100 (1.6) | 101 (1.6) | 4265 (5.1) | <0.001 |
| Missing | 9 (0.3) | 1 (0.2) | 172 (0.2) | 3,366 (54.3) | 2,923 (46.6) | 35943 (43.3) | ||
| Prelabour rupture of membranes b | 834 (27.3) | 32 (5.7) | 4625 (6.0) | <0.001 | 2,191 (35.3) | 282 (4.5) | 9453 (11.4) | <0.001 |
| Chronic hypertension b | 39 (1.3) | 3 (0.5) | 261 (0.3) | <0.001 | 49 (0.8) | 11 (0.2) | 359 (0.4) | 0.003 |
| Pregnancy-induced hypertension b | 264 (8.6) | 29 (5.1) | 1574 (2.0) | <0.001 | 588 (9.5) | 227 (3.6) | 2378 (2.9) | <0.001 |
| Pre-eclampsia b | 217 (7.1) | 20 (3.5) | 994 (1.3) | <0.001 | 435 (7.0) | 12 (0.2) | 1305 (1.6) | <0.001 |
| Cardiac/renal disease b | 21 (0.7) | 0 (0.0) | 162 (0.2) | 0.108 | 51 (0.8) | 77 (1.2) | 321 (0.4) | <0.001 |
| Respiratory disease b | 11 (0.4) | 3 (0.5) | 377 (0.5) | 0.593 | 41 (0.7) | 100 (1.6) | 360 (0.4) | <0.001 |
| Suspected fetal growth impairment b | 45 (1.5) | 6 (1.1) | 393 (0.5) | 0.001 | 236 (3.8) | 40 (0.6) | 506 (0.6) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes b | 32 (1.0) | 4 (0.7) | 240 (0.3) | <0.001 | 85 (1.4) | 75 (1.2) | 352 (0.4) | <0.001 |
| Severe anaemia b | 41 (1.3) | 6 (1.1) | 494 (0.6) | 0.032 | 56 (0.9) | 11 (0.2) | 318 (0.4) | 0.002 |
| Vaginal bleeding b | 46 (1.5) | 4 (0.7) | 589 (0.8) | 0.002 | 47 (0.8) | 9 (0.1) | 586 (0.7) | 0.023 |
| HIV | 42 (1.4) | 18 (3.2) | 1298 (1.7) | 0.130 | 27 (0.4) | 4 (0.1) | 324 (0.4) | 0.002 |
| Missing | 78 (2.6) | 19 (3.4) | 2707 (3.5) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 12 (0.0) | ||
| Malaria b | 207 (6.8) | 45 (8.0) | 7254 (9.4) | 0.133 | 7 (0.1) | 3 (0.0) | 50 (0.1) | 0.240 |
| Pyelonephritis or urinary infection b | 125 (4.1) | 15 (4.4) | 2752 (3.6) | 0.666 | 79 (1.3) | 40 (0.6) | 967 (1.2) | 0.281 |
| Delivery performed by b | ||||||||
| Doctor | 1,138 (37.3) | 221 (39.2) | 10581 (13.7) | <0.001 | 4,002 (64.5) | 2,192 (35.0) | 40911 (49.3) | 0.001 |
| Midwife/Nurse | 1,727 (56.6) | 316 (56.0) | 60257 (78.3) | 2,074 (33.4) | 4,001 (63.8) | 39027 (47.1) | ||
| Other | 184 (6.0) | 27 (4.8) | 6048 (7.9) | 125 (2.0) | 76 (1.2) | 2984 (3.6) | ||
| Gestational age | ||||||||
| <37 weeks | 497 (16.3) | 48 (8.5) | 8586 (11.2) | <0.001 | 985 (15.9) | 264 (4.2) | 9330 (11.3) | <0.001 |
| 37–42 weeks | 2,356 (77.2) | 489 (86.7) | 65530 (85.1) | 5,164 (83.3) | 5,996 (95.6) | 72943 (88.0) | ||
| >42 weeks | 116 (3.8) | 6 (1.1) | 308 (0.4) | 43 (0.7) | 4 (0.1) | 248 (0.3) | ||
| Missing | 84 (2.8) | 21 (3.7) | 2541 (3.3) | 9 (0.1) | 6 (0.1) | 408 (0.5) | ||
| Fetal presentation b | ||||||||
| Cephalic | 2,881 (94.4) | 537 (95.2) | 73667 (95.7) | 0.009 | 5,998 (96.7) | 6,201 (98.9) | 79265 (95.6) | <0.001 |
| Breech | 152 (5.0) | 14 (2.5) | 2615 (3.4) | 151 (2.4) | 41 (0.7) | 3073 (3.7) | ||
| Other | 14 (0.5) | 9 (1.6) | 462 (0.6) | 51 (0.8) | 27 (0.4) | 589 (0.7) | ||
| Sex b | ||||||||
| Female | 1,453 (47.9) | 276 (49.4) | 37,324 (48.8) | 0.644 | 2,993 (48.3) | 3,119 (49.7) | 39.717 (47.9) | 0.019 |
| Male | 1,579 (52.1) | 283 (50.6) | 39,179 (51.2) | 3,203 (51.7) | 3,149 (50.2) | 43,193 (52.1) | ||
a
Chi-square p-values are adjusted for survey design.
b
Missing values below 1% were omitted.