Table 2.

Maternal characteristics and obstetric status at admission to the labour ward

	Total		MA		EA		SC
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Maternal characteristics
Higher education	249	45.0	80	35.0	87	44.8	82	54.9*
Age (years)
<25	96	37.9	38	45.8	29	33.3	29	34.9
26–34	138	54.5	40	48.2	53	60.9	45	54.2
>35	19	7.5	5	6.0	5	5.7	9	10.8
Single status	253	16.2	83	14.5	87	18.4	83	15.7
Smoking 3 months before pregnancy	222	21.6	74	23.0	77	22.1	71	19.7
Overweight or obese (BMI ≥25) in early pregnancy	215	37.2	72	34.7	75	36.0	68	41.2
Dysmenorrhoea	252	68.7	83	73.5	87	72.4	82	59.8
Acupuncture treatment before present pregnancy	249	27.3	82	9.6	87	10.8	80	6.8
Worried about labour pain	246	65.9	80	68.8	86	61.6	80	67.5
Worried about pain in daily life	251	9.2	83	12.0	87	8.0	81	7.4
Obstetric status
Membranes ruptured before admission	250	20.8	82	30.5	87	28.7	81	33.3
Cervical dilation >3 cm at admission	240	54.2	81	53.1	80	61.3	79	48.1

*p<0.05 tested with logistic regression.

BMI, body mass index; EA, acupuncture with a combination of manual and electrical stimulation; MA, manual acupuncture; SC, standard care.