Table 1. Characteristics of the study participants (N = 1574).
| Characteristics | n (%) |
|---|---|
| Maternal age in years Mean (SD) | 31.45 (4.43) |
| Education 1 | |
| High School | 360 (23.0) |
| Postsecondary | 1207 (77.0) |
| Household income | |
| ≥$80,000 | 1084 (71.6) |
| <$80,000 | 431 (28.4) |
| Marital status | |
| Married/Common-law | 1498 (95.5) |
| Single | 70 (4.5) |
| Ethnicity | |
| White/Caucasian | 1292 (82.4) |
| Other | 276 (17.6) |
| Time in Canada | |
| Born in Canada/Lived in Canada for ≥5 years | 1424 (91.1) |
| Lived in Canada for less than 5 years | 139 (8.9) |
| Gravidity | |
| Primigravida | 548 (35.1) |
| Multigravida | 1012 (64.9) |
| Parity | |
| Primiparous | 681 (47.7) |
| Multiparous | 747 (52.3) |
| Pre-pregnancy BMI | |
| Underweight (BMI< 18.50 kg/m2) | 54 (3.5) |
| Normal weight (BMI 18.50–24.99 kg/m2) | 937 (60.9) |
| Overweight (BMI 25.00–29.99 kg/m2) | 343 (22.3) |
| Obese/Morbidly obese (BMI ≥30.00 kg/m2) | 204 (13.3) |
| Pregnancy complications 2 | |
| Yes | 201 (14.1) |
| No | 1228 (85.9) |
| Onset of labour | |
| Spontaneous onset | 971 (72.1) |
| Induction of labour | 376 (27.9) |
| Mode of delivery | |
| Spontaneous vaginal | 1013 (70.9) |
| Assisted vaginal delivery (vacuum and/or forceps) | 36 (2.5) |
| Emergency or elective caesarean section | 380 (26.6) |
| Obstetrical analgesia | |
| Epidural/spinal | 743 (52.0) |
| No analgesia | 686 (48.0) |
| Gestational age (weeks), mean (SD) | 38.86 (1.89) |
| Birth weight (grams), mean (SD) | 3357.5 (547.7) |
| Breastfeeding status | |
| Did not breastfeed | 60 (3.8) |
| Breastfed <24 weeks | 339 (21.6) |
| Breastfed ≥24 weeks | 1173 (74.6) |
| Back pain at 12 months postpartum | 1212 (77.0) |
| Back pain affected ability to conduct daily tasks on a scale of 0 to 10 | |
| No back pain or not affected (0–1) | 750 (47.7) |
| Mildly affected (2–4) | 532 (33.9) |
| Moderately affected (5–7) | 199 (12.7) |
| Severely affected (8–10) | 90 (5.7) |
| Urinary incontinence at 12 months postpartum | 773 (49.2) |
| Urinary incontinence affected ability to conduct daily tasks on a scale of 0 to 10 | |
| No urinary incontinence or not affected (0–1) | 1305 (83.0) |
| Mildly affected (2–4) | 215 (13.7) |
| Moderately affected (5–7) | 40 (2.5) |
| Severely affected (8–10) | 12 (0.8) |
1The education categories included: for the High school category: some high school, graduated high school, some post-secondary, and for the Post-secondary category: graduated post-secondary, some graduate school, or completed graduate school
2Pregnancy complications included at least one of the following: pregnancy induced hypertension, pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, placental abruption, gestational diabetes, or placenta praevia)