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. 2015 Feb 5;15:21. doi: 10.1186/s12884-015-0452-0

Table 2.

Percent of population with maternal characteristics*

All women (n = 71,200) Primigravidas (n = 24,000) Multigravidas
Previous PTB (n = 4,000) No previous PTB
Previous early pregnancy loss a (n = 21,300) No previous early pregnancy loss (n = 21,600)
Percent of sample 33.8 5.7 30.0 30.5
Determinants
Prepregnancy BMI
<18.5 6.0 7.1 6.2 5.3 5.4
18.5-24.9 59.7 63.3 51.3 58.1 58.4
25.0-29.9 20.9 17.6 22.9 23.1 22.3
≥30 13.5 12.0 19.6 13.5 13.9
Gestational weight gain
<recommended 18.6 16.6 18.0 19.4 20.2
=recommended 23.0 22.1 23.2 22.3 24.9
>recommended 59.4 61.3 58.7 58.3 54.9
Smoked 3rd trimester 10.4 7.7 17.2 13.7 10.0
Covariates
Maternal age
≤24 15.3 23.6 11.9 12.4 9.5
25-29 34.1 40.4 27.7 29.0 33.5
30-34 33.4 26.1 37.7 35.4 37.8
≥35 17.5 9.8 22.7 23.2 19.3
Maternal education
Less than high school 6.8 5.1 12.4 7.8 6.7
High school graduate 19.4 17.7 22.7 20.3 19.8
Post-secondary diploma 37.7 38.1 41.6 36.8 37.4
University graduate 36.1 39.2 23.3 35.2 36.1
Low-income-cut-off (LICO)
≤LICO 18.0 14.9 26.2 19.1 19.1
>LICO 74.0 75.3 69.1 74.1 74.0
Missing 8.0 9.8 4.7 6.9 6.9
Short stature 6.4 5.6 6.8 5.8 7.7
World region of birth
Canada 76.7 77.8 82.2 76.4 74.9
Europe/Western nations 6.0 5.8 4.4 6.4 5.9
Africa/Caribbean 2.3 2.2 3.4 2.6 1.9
Middle East/North Africa 2.6 2.6 2.3 1.9 3.3
Latin America 2.3 1.8 1.3 2.2 3.2
East Asia/South East Asia/Pacific Islands 5.7 5.4 3.0 6.4 5.7
South Asia 4.5 4.5 3.5 4.1 5.1
Medical conditions prior to pregnancy 15.2 14.3 20.5 16.6 13.8
Medical conditions during pregnancy 24.4 24.8 32.2 25.1 21.8
Depression prior to pregnancy 15.5 13.8 20.2 17.3 14.6
Perceived stress during pregnancy
Not stressful 43.1 46.4 34.2 41.6 42.6
Somewhat stressful 44.9 44.7 47.6 44.7 45.0
Very stressful 12.0 8.9 18.2 13.8 12.4
No support during pregnancy 12.8 10.0 16.8 14.7 13.3

*Subgroup sample sizes do not add up to the total due to rounding to the nearest 100, as explained in the methods. Abbreviations: PTB – preterm birth, BMI – body mass index.

aEarly pregnancy loss - miscarriage, abortion and/or ectopic pregnancy.