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Table 2 Maternal and newborn characteristics and outcomes, by Indigenous status, remoteness, and region; NT 2003-2005

From: A population-based investigation into inequalities amongst Indigenous mothers and newborns by place of residence in the Northern territory, Australia

Maternal and neonatal characteristics

NT-resident women (N = 7,560)

Indigenous (N = 2,573)

 

Non-Indigenous (n = 4,987)a

Indigenous (n = 2,573)

Top End (n = 1,776)

Central Australia (n = 797)

Chi2or Fisher’s Test for trend

 

Remote A(n = 334)

P-value A vs B

Remote B(n = 1,686)

Urban C(n = 887)

P-value B vs C

Remote b(n = 1,217)

Urban(n = 559)

Remote(n = 469)

Urban(n = 328)

 

Maternal:

          

Mean maternal age in years (±SD)[95% Confidence Interval]

28.4 (±5.7) [27.8, 29.1]

<0.001

23 (±5.8) [23.1, 23.7]

24.9 (±5.9) [24.5, 25.3]

<0.001

23.7 (±5.9) [23.3, 24.0]

24.8 (±5.8) [24.4, 25.3]

22.7 (±5.8) [22.1, 23.3]

25.0 (±6.1) [24.4, 25.7]

..

Maternal age < 20 years

7.8%

<0.001

31.1%

19.8%

<0.001

28.6%

19.5%

37.5%

20.4%

<0.001

Maternal age ≥ 35 years

16.8%

<0.001

5.3%

7.1%

0.062

5.7%

7.0%

4.3%

7.3%

0.193

First pregnancy

37.4%

0.078

32.4%

30.6%

0.328

31.2%

30.8%

35.5%

30.2%

0.262

Fourth + pregnancy

14.7%

<0.001

26.8%

24.5%

0.198

29.1%

24.7%

20.9%

24.1%

0.004

Less than four antenatal visits

6.3%

0.001

12.9%

15.2%

0.099

9.6%

17.2%

21.3%

11.9%

<0.001

Smoking reported at first visit

24.0%

<0.001

47.5%

51.2%

0.076

54.7%

53.0%

28.8%

48.2%

<0.001

Smoking reported at 36 weeks

21.9%

<0.001

44.5%

47.6%

0.142

52.4%

49.4%

24.1%

44.5%

<0.001

Alcohol use reported at first visit

10.5%

0.522

9.4%

8.0%

<0.001

8.9%

11.8%

10.9%

20.1%

<0.001

Alcohol use reported at 36 weeks

5.7%

0.708

6.2%

11.6%

<0.001

5.9%

8.8%

7.0%

16.5%

<0.001

Diabetes in pregnancyc

6.5%

0.009

12.7%

12.5%

0.948

11.0%

10.9%

17.0%

15.5%

0.017

Out-of-hospital birthd

<5

0.019

4.2%

0.7%

<0.001

4.9%

<5

2.4%

<5

<0.001

Epidural/spinal pain relief

10.8%

0.003

6.2%

10.3%

<0.001

5.5%

10.6%

8.1%

9.8%

0.001

Narcotics for pain relief

20.4%

0.703

21.3%

25.5%

0.016

21.6%

25.6%

20.5%

25.3%

0.109

Augmented labour

24.3%

0.137

28.2%

27.5%

0.697

26.5%

27.7%

32.8%

27.1%

0.071

Induced labour

23.4%

0.014

17.6%

18.6%

0.536

15.1%

18.3%

24.1%

19.2%

<0.001

Vaginal birthe

68.7%

0.863

68.3%

73.6%

0.010

67.8%

72.8%

71.2%

75.0%

0.029

Instrumental vaginal birth

7.8%

0.272

6.2%

5.2%

0.312

6.2%

5.0%

6.2%

5.5%

0.775

Caesarean section (CS)

24.0%

0.661

25.1%

21.2%

0.027

26.1%

22.2%

22.6%

19.5%

0.048

Emergency CS as % of all CS

52.5%

0.002

70.5%

67.0%

0.396

73.5%

62.9%

61.3%

75.0%

0.027

Fetal distress recorded

15.2%

0.087

20.1%

20.0%

0.973

21.2%

22.5%

17.2%

15.5%

0.096

Episiotomy performed (vaginal births)

7.2%

0.695

7.5%

5.6%

0.113

6.7%

5.7%

<5

<5

<0.001

3rd/4th degree tear (vaginal births)

<5

0.351

1.4%

1.1%

0.714

1.5%

0.9%

1.1%

1.5%

0.522

Mother LOS ≥ 4 days: vaginal births

33.8%

0.013

45.0%

23.0%

<0.001

53.2%

24.6%

24.6%

20.3%

<0.001

Mother LOS ≥ 4 days: CS births

80.0%

0.052

88.9%

83.5%

0.154

92.1%

85.5%

79.3%

79.7%

<0.001

Neonatal:

          

Stillbirth (Rate per 1,000 births)

<5

0.489

7.7/1,000

<5

0.447

5.8/1,000

<5

12.8/1,000

<5

0.389

Apgar score < 7 at 5 minutes

2.7%

0.512

3.6%

3.2%

0.543

3.8%

2.9%

3.2%

3.7%

0.776

Newborn needed serious resuscitationf

10.8%

0.771

11.3%

10.0%

0.316

11.8%

8.6%

10.0%

12.5%

0.144

Preterm birth (<37 weeks gestation)

3.9%

<0.001

12.2%

9.1%

0.020

12.7%

9.8%

10.7%

7.9%

0.054

Low birthweight (<2,500 g)

4.2%

<0.001

10.9%

8.6%

0.061

11.8%

8.4%

8.5%

8.8%

0.054

Admission to special care (SC)

12.0%

<0.001

21.7%

20.0%

0.300

21.9%

19.0%

21.3%

21.7%

0.567

  1. < 5: Less than 5 counts – data not shown.
  2. a This group includes 4,653 urban-dwelling non-Indigenous mothers for whom relevant data is not shown in Table 2.
  3. b This group includes Communities 1 and 2 and is subdivided in Tables 4 and 5.
  4. c Refers to any mention of diabetes in pregnancy, i.e., mother had either pre-existing diabetes or gestational diabetes recorded. We combined the variables pre-existing diabetes and gestational diabetes to describe ‘diabetes in pregnancy’, because of the small numbers of pre-existing diabetes cases (n = 53).
  5. d Refers to planned home-births, births at community health centres, ‘born-before-arrival’ births, births in hostels, etc.
  6. e Includes 98 vaginal breech cases. Most were preterm births and three were out-of-hospital births.
  7. f Refers to resuscitation with mask and bag, external cardiac massage or intubation.