Table 1.
The demographic features of women and the labour, delivery and neonatal characteristics
| Caesarean section | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Sample N (%) | No N (%) | Yes N (%) | p | |
| Maternal age at delivery (years), mean (SD) | 26.3 (5.9) | 26.1 (5.9) | 27.4 (5.8) | 0.003+ |
| Smoking | ||||
| No | 1088 (86.8) | 914 (84.0) | 174 (16.0) | 0.091‡ |
| Yes | 165 (13.2) | 147 (89.1) | 18 (10.9) | |
| BMI (kg/m2), mean (SD) | 26.5 (5.9) | 26.0 (5.7) | 28.9 (6.9) | <0.001+ |
| BMI | ||||
| Normal | 598 (46.9) | 537 (89.8) | 61 (10.2) | <0.001‡ |
| Overweight | 367 (28.8) | 309 (84.2) | 58 (15.8) | |
| Obese | 309 (24.3) | 232 (75.1) | 77 (24.9) | |
| Gestation in days, mean (SD) | 278.6 (12.6) | 279.4 (12.6) | 276 (14.9) | 0.001+ |
| Route of birth | ||||
| Vaginal-normal | 897 (70.4) | |||
| Caesarean section | 196 (15.4) | |||
| Instrumental delivery | 181 (14.2) | |||
| Meconium stained liquor | ||||
| No | 1077 (85.0) | 931 (86.4) | 146 (13.6) | <0.001‡ |
| Yes | 190 (15.0) | 142 (74.7) | 48 (25.3) | |
| Fetal Gender | ||||
| Female | 621 (48.7) | 533 (85.8) | 88 (14.2) | 0.242‡ |
| Male | 653 (51.3) | 545 (83.5) | 108 (16.5) | |
| Birth Weight (g), mean (SD) | 3399.2 (576.2) | 3368.5 (563.1) | 3568 (618.6) | <0.001+ |
| Head circumference at birth (cm), mean (SD) | 34.8 (1.7) | 34.7 (1.7) | 35.3 (1.6) | <0.001+ |
| Apgar score at 1 minute, median (IQR) | 9 (8-9) | 9 (9-9) | 9 (8-9) | <0.001++ |
| Apgar score at 5 minutes, median (IQR) | 10 (10-10) | 10 (10-10) | 10 (9-10) | <0.001++ |
| Cord gases taken at delivery Arterial pH, median (IQR) | 7.24 (7.18-7.29) | 7.22 (7.17-7.28) | 7.25 (7.20-7.29) | 0.001++ |
| Cord gases taken at delivery Venus pH, median (IQR) | 7.29 (7.24-7.33) | 7.29 (7.25-7.33) | 7.29 (7.23-7.33) | 0.365++ |
| Admitted to the Neonatal Unit (NNU) | ||||
| No | 1005 (95.5) | 853 (84.9) | 152 (15.1) | <0.001‡ |
| Yes | 47 (4.5) | 29 (61.7) | 18 (38.3) | |
+
Student t-test;
++
Mann-Whitney test;
‡
Pearson chi-squared test