Table 1.

Comparison of the Late Preterm and Fulterm Groups on Maternal and Infant Characteristics

	Late Preterm "(n=29)	Fullterm "(n=31)
	Mean "(SD)	Mean "(SD)
Maternal Age in Years	27.9 "(6.0)	28.5 "(4.6)
Infant Gestational Age "(wks)	35.6 "(0.9)	39.6 "(1.1)***
Apgar Scores: 1 Minute	7.4 "(2.1)	7.6 "(1.9)
5 Minute	8.6 "(0.9)	8.8 "(0.8)
Length of Infant Hospitalization	9.0 "(14.4)	3.5 "(4.6)**
Birth Weight in Grams	2489.3 "(483.6)	3393.9 "(487.1)***
	Percent "(n)	Percent "(n)
% Married	63.0% "(17)	46.7% "(14)
Race/Ethnicity: % White	51.7% "(15)	50.0% "(15)
% African American	31.0% "(9)	40.0% "(12)
% Hispanic and Other	17.2% "(5)	10.0% "(3)
% First-Time Mothers	41.4% "(12)	40.0% "(12)
% on Medicaid	42.3% "(11)	41.4% "(12)
% Cesarean Section	51.7% "(15)	43.3% "(13)
% Breastfeeding at Discharge	74.1% "(20)	70.0% "(21)
Birthweight under 2500 Grams	58.6% "(17)	0.0% "(0) ***
2500 to 3000 Grams	24.1% "(7)	23.3% "(7)
Over 3000 Grams	17.2% "(5)	76.7% "(23)
Infant Gender: % Male	55.2% "(16)	60.0% "(18)

Note: Between-group mean differences on continuous variables were tested using t-tests, with the exception of length of infant hospitalization that was tested with a non-parametric Wilcoxon Two-Sample Test due to a non-normal distribution. Between-group differences in proportions were tested using chi-square and with the Fisher’s Exact Test when observed cell frequency was less than 5.

^*p < .05 for group differences;

^**p < .01;

^***p < .001.