Table 1.

Demographic and obstetric characteristics among super-obese and comparison women who gave birth in Australia, 2010

	Super-obese group (N = 370)		Comparison (N = 621)		P value
	No.	%	No.	%
Age (years)
< 25	60	16.2	99	15.9	1.00
25–29	109	29.5	185	29.8
30–34	110	29.7	187	30.1
≥ 35	91	24.6	150	24.2
Indigenous status
No	341	92.2	572	92.1	0.23
Yes	17	4.6	19	3.1
Not stated	12	3.2	30	4.8
Marital status
Single	71	19.2	71	11.4	<0.01
Married/cohabit	277	74.9	508	81.8
Not stated	22	5.9	42	6.8
Private health insurance
No	356	96.2	474	76.3	<0.01
Yes	14	3.8	145	23.3
Not stated	0	0.0	2	0.3
Smoking during pregnancy
No	265	71.6	484	77.9	<0.01
Yes	88	23.8	100	16.1
Not stated	17	4.6	37	6.0
Assisted reproductive technology
No	357	96.5	574	92.4	0.17
Yes	11	3.0	29	4.7
Not stated	2	0.5	18	2.9
Parity
0	115	31.1	251	40.4	<0.01
1–2	173	46.8	313	50.4
3+	82	22.2	57	9.2
Multiple gestation pregnancy
No	362	97.8	608	97.9	0.81
Yes	8	2.2	12	1.9
Not stated	0	0.0	1	0.2
Socio-economic statusa
Most disadvantage 1	66	17.8	49	7.9	<0.01
2	68	18.4	73	11.8
3	109	29.5	121	19.5
4	80	21.6	181	29.1
Least disadvantage 5	40	10.8	191	30.8
Not stated	7	1.9	6	1.0
Previous caesarean section (exclude primiparous)
No	140	54.9	250	67.6	<0.01
Yes	112	43.9	115	31.1
Not stated	3	1.2	5	1.4

^aSocio-Economic Indexes for Areas Index for Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage quintiles assigned to those residents in the most disadvantaged areas to Quintile 1 and those in the least disadvantaged areas to Quintile 5