Table 2 Comparison of women with low and high anxiety on characteristics by parity (N = 624)
| Â | NULLIPARAS | MULTIPARAS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | Low anxiety | High anxiety | Â | Low anxiety | High anxiety | Â |
|  | (N = 279) | (N = 93) |  | (N = 164) | (N = 88) | |
| Â | % (N) | % (N) | p | % (N) | % (N) | p |
Maternal characteristics | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
Age > 35 | 15.1 (42) | 11.8 (11) | 0.441 | 39.0 (64) | 15.9 (14) | < 0.001 |
Family Income | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
< $ BC Average | 24.4 (68) | 28.0 (26) | 0.491 | 30.5 (50) | 46.6 (41) | 0.010 |
Education | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 No university | 42.7 (119) | 50.5 (47) | 0.185 | 44.5 (73) | 59.1 (52) | 0.027 |
 University degree | 57.3 (160) | 49.5 (46) |  | 55.5 (91) | 40.9 (36) |  |
Lone parent | 1.8 (5) | 2.2 (2) | 0.826 | 1.8 (3) | 1.1 (1) | 0.675 |
Ethnicity | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Aboriginal | 1.1 (3) | 3.4 (3) | 0.343 | 1.3 (2) | 5.1 (4) | 0.218 |
 Caucasian | 90.2 (239) | 87.4 (76) |  | 91.1 (143) | 87.3 (69) |  |
 Asian | 8.7 (23) | 9.2 (8) |  | 7.6 (12) | 7.6 (6) |  |
Maternity care provider | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Midwife | 26.5 (74) | 15.1 (14) | 0.026 | 29.9 (49) | 20.5 (18) | 0.107 |
 GP | 42.3 (118) | 40.9 (38) |  | 37.2 (61) | 34.1 (30) |  |
 Obstetrician | 31.2 (87) | 44.1 (41) |  | 32.9 (54) | 45.5 (40) |  |
Attended childbirth classes | 83.5 (233) | 83.9 (78) | 0.936 | 12.2 (20) | 13.6 (12) | 0.743 |
History of difficult labour | NA | NA | NA | 51.2 (83) | 55.2 (48) | 0.553 |
History of upsetting labour | NA | NA | NA | 34.6 (56) | 42.5 (37) | 0.216 |
Maternal characteristics | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
Source of stressor - relationships | 21.1 (59) | 37.6 (35) | 0.002 | 42.3 (69) | 66.7 (58) | < 0.001 |
Source of stressor – finances | 45.2 (126) | 61.3 (57) | 0.007 | 43.6 (71) | 66.7 (58) | < 0.001 |
Source of stressor – housing | 15.1 (42) | 33.3 (31) | < 0.001 | 12.9 (21) | 27.6 (24) | 0.004 |
Source of stressor – employment | 26.2 (73) | 38.7 (36) | 0.021 | 17.8 (29) | 34.5 (30) | 0.003 |
Source of stressor – education | 5.4 (15) | 9.7 (9) | 0.144 | 3.7 (6) | 10.3 (9) | 0.035 |
Source of stressor –health | 20.8 (58) | 39.8 (37) | < 0.001 | 17.2 (28) | 39.1 (34) | < 0.001 |
Requesting a caesarean section | 1.1 (3) | 3.2 (3) | 0.154 | 9.2 (15) | 19.3 (17) | 0.022 |
Requesting a caesarean section, excluding women with a previous caesarean section | 1.1 (3) | 3.2 (3) | 0.154 | 1.6 (2) | 1.8 (1) | 0.950 |
Expecting obstetric interventions, excluding women with a previous caesarean section | 13.7 (38) | 19.6 (18) | 0.181 | 9.8 (12) | 17.9 (10) | 0.144 |