Table 3.
Delivery, in-hospital, breastfeeding and newborn characteristics
| North n (%) | Centre n (%) | South n (%) | Total n (%) | P value | |
| Mean gestational age at birth, weeks; SD | 39.0; 1.7 | 39.0; 1.6 | 38.9; 1.8 | 39.0; 1.7 | 0.0158* |
| Gestational age category (weeks) | 0.0009* | ||||
| 22–36 | 124 (5.3) | 50 (5.1) | 141 (8.1) | 315 (6.2) | |
| 37–41 | 2197 (93.9) | 923 (94.3) | 1571 (90.8) | 4691 (92.9) | |
| 42–44 | 18 (0.8) | 6 (0.6) | 19 (1.1) | 43 (0.9) | |
| Birth in hospital | 2323 (99.4) | 966 (98.9) | 1691 (98.0) | 4980 (98.8) | 0.0003* |
| Single versus twin births | <0.0001* | ||||
| Single birth | 2294 (98.2) | 954 (97.5) | 1647 (95.3) | 4895 (97.1) | |
| Twins | 42 (1.8) | 24 (2.5) | 82 (4.7) | 148 (2.9) | |
| Birth type | <0.0001* | ||||
| Spontaneous | 1639 (70.0) | 608 (62.1) | 993 (57.3) | 3240 (64.1) | |
| Caesarean | 575 (24.6) | 328 (33.5) | 697 (40.2) | 1600 (31.7) | |
| Instrumental birth | 126 (5.4) | 43 (4.4) | 44 (2.5) | 213 (4.2) | |
| Skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth | 1880 (82.1) | 778 (80.1) | 1018 (59.2) | 3676 (73.8) | <0.0001* |
| Intramuscular vitamin K at birth | 2204 (95.2) | 940 (96.7) | 1500 (87.7) | 4644 (92.9) | <0.0001* |
| Breast feeding in hospital | 2098 (91.4) | 906 (93.0) | 1.476 (87.7) | 4480 (90.5) | <0.0001* |
| Exclusively breast fed on hospital discharge | 1720 (73.7) | 713 (72.8) | 1076 (62.1) | 3509 (69.6) | <0.0001* |
| Newborns | |||||
| Female | 1116 (47.7) | 515 (52.6) | 843 (48.6) | 2474 (49.0) | 0.0361* |
| Mean birth weight, g; SD | 3278.0; 483.8 | 3250.3; 487.5 | 3225.8; 501.4 | 3254.7; 491.1 | 0.0055* |
| Median birth weight, g; min-max | 3290.0; 635–4850 | 3250.0; 1155–4750 | 3250.0; 1160–5885 | 3270.0; 635.0–5885.0 | |
| Birth weight class, g | 0.0589 | ||||
| <2.500 | 124 (5.3) | 53 (5.4) | 117 (6.8) | 294 (5.8) | |
| 2.500–4.000 | 2098 (89.7) | 874 (89.3) | 1552 (89.6) | 4524 (89.5) | |
| >4.000 | 118 (5.0) | 52 (5.3) | 64 (3.7) | 234 (4.6) | |
| Weight for gestational age | 0.8335 | ||||
| Small for gestational age (SGA) | 236 (10.1) | 97 (10.0) | 192 (11.2) | 525 (10.5) | |
| Appropriate for gestational age (AGA) | 1884 (80.9) | 785 (80.8) | 1373 (79.9) | 4042 (80.5) | |
| Large for gestational age (LGA) | 210 (9.0) | 89 (9.2) | 153 (8.9) | 452 (9.0) | |
| Mean length, cm; SD | 49.7; 2.5 | 49.8; 2.3 | 49.5; 2.4 | 49.6; 2.4 | 0.0018* |
| Malformation at birth | 80 (3.4) | 28 (2.9) | 53 (3.1) | 161 (3.2) | 0.6565 |
| Disease at birth | 172 (7.4) | 77 (7.9) | 149 (8.6) | 398 (7.9) | 0.3466 |
| Admitted to Neonatal unit | 398 (17.4) | 181 (18.7) | 241 (14.0) | 820 (16.5) | 0.0019* |
| Admitted to neonatal intensive care unit | 84 (3.6) | 34 (3.5) | 97 (5.6) | 215 (4.3) | 0.0030* |
* Statistically significant