Table 3. Obstetric characteristics of Australian-born women and women of refugee background giving birth at the two hospital networks, 2014–2016.
| Obstetric characteristics | Hospital network X | Hospital network Y | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian-born women | Women of refugee background | p-Value | Australian-born women | Women of refugee background | p-Value* | |||||
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | |||
| Maternal age | 29.29 | 5.69 | 29.19 | 5.76 | 0.388 | 29.85 | 5.57 | 29.88 | 5.66 | 0.878 |
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | |||
| Maternal age | ||||||||||
| 14–19 years | 400 | 3.9 | 49 | 1.8 | <0.001 | 203 | 3.2 | 30 | 2.1 | 0.106 |
| 20–24 years | 1,745 | 17.0 | 603 | 22.0 | 1,043 | 16.6 | 248 | 17.5 | ||
| 25–29 years | 3,180 | 30.9 | 828 | 30.2 | 1,894 | 30.1 | 453 | 32.0 | ||
| 30–34 years | 3,097 | 30.1 | 761 | 27.8 | 1,909 | 30.3 | 417 | 29.5 | ||
| 35+ years | 1,855 | 18.1 | 499 | 18.2 | 1,249 | 19.8 | 266 | 18.8 | ||
| Parity** | ||||||||||
| 0 | 4,532 | 44.1 | 751 | 27.4 | <0.001 | 2,688 | 42.7 | 305 | 21.6 | <0.001 |
| 1 | 3,402 | 33.1 | 698 | 25.5 | 2,132 | 33.9 | 375 | 26.5 | ||
| 2 | 1,510 | 14.7 | 535 | 19.5 | 942 | 15.0 | 273 | 19.3 | ||
| 3 | 513 | 5.0 | 345 | 12.6 | 347 | 5.5 | 165 | 11.7 | ||
| 4+ | 320 | 3.1 | 411 | 15.0 | 189 | 3.0 | 296 | 20.9 | ||
| Gravida*** | ||||||||||
| 1 | 3,143 | 30.6 | 612 | 22.3 | <0.001 | 1,998 | 31.7 | 248 | 17.5 | <0.001 |
| 2 | 2,987 | 29.1 | 615 | 22.4 | 1,839 | 29.2 | 343 | 24.3 | ||
| 3 | 1,863 | 18.1 | 497 | 18.1 | 1,139 | 18.1 | 256 | 18.1 | ||
| 4+ | 2,284 | 22.2 | 1,016 | 37.1 | 1,322 | 21.0 | 567 | 40.1 | ||
| Gestational diabetes | ||||||||||
| No | 9,463 | 92.1 | 2,287 | 83.5 | <0.001 | 5,393 | 85.6 | 1,192 | 84.3 | 0.201 |
| Yes | 814 | 7.9 | 453 | 16.5 | 905 | 14.4 | 222 | 15.7 | ||
| Hypertension/preeclampsia | ||||||||||
| No | 9,941 | 96.7 | 2,715 | 99.1 | <0.001 | 6,061 | 96.2 | 1,398 | 98.9 | <0.001 |
| Yes | 336 | 3.3 | 25 | 0.9 | 237 | 3.8 | 16 | 1.1 | ||
*p-Value from t test (for continuous age) or chi-squared test (for categorical variables) comparing the characteristics of Australian-born women and women of refugee background within each hospital network.
**Women with a parity of 0 had no prior births (live-born or stillborn) and were expecting their first baby. Women with a parity of 1 had a single baby previously, parity of 2 indicated two previous babies, and so forth.
*** Women with a gravida of 1 were having their first pregnancy. Women with a gravida of 2 had a previous pregnancy and a current pregnancy, a gravida of 3 indicates two previous pregnancies and one current pregnancy, and so forth.