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Table 1 Background characteristics of the women

From: In the Nepalese context, can a husband’s attendance during childbirth help his wife feel more in control of labour?

Characteristics

Overall (n = 309)

Women with their husband (n = 97)

Women with a female companion (n = 96)

Control (n = 105)

Women’s characteristics

Women’s age (years), mean (SD)

21.85 (2.82)

22.06 (3.08)

21.80 (2.56)

21.56 (2.71)

Years of marriage, mean (SD)

1.72 (1.32)

1.57 (0.91)

1.68 (1.01)

1.88 (1.81)

Women with love marriage (%)

56.6

54.6

55.2

62.9

Years of living together, mean (SD)

1.55 (1.17)

1.43 (.72)

1.46 (.78)

1.74 (1.71)

Women with more than 10 years of schooling (%)

35.5

41.2

36.5

28.6

Working women (%)

16.8

16.5

14.6

12.4

Husbands’ characteristics

Husbands’ age (years), mean (SD)

25.54 (4.17)

26.01 (5.02)

25.27 (3.56)

25.20 (3.92)

Husbands with more than 10 years of schooling (%)

37.2

36.1

37.5

37.1

Husbands working in managerial and professional positions (%)

12.3

14.4

10.4

12.4

Household characteristics

Hindu (%)

78.6

81.4

76.0

80.0

Brahman/Chhetri (%)

45.9

44.3

52.1

40.0

Monthly family incomea (Rupees), mean (SD)

13854.09 (8676.12)

14771 (8375.48)

13700 (8354.92)

13154 (9413.85)

Women in a nuclear family (%)

60.8

69.1

57.3

55.2

Support person available at home (%)

57.9

57.7

55.2

60.0

Living in own house (%)

29.1

25.8

31.3

29.5

Antenatal characteristics

Attended antenatal clinic (at least once)

97.1

96.9

97.9

97.1

Accompanied by husband to antenatal clinic (%)

58.3

64.9

50.02

60.0

Attended birth preparation class (%)

6.1

5.2

7.3

6.7

Birth outcomes

Length of first stage of labour, mean (SD) in minutes b

706.11 (235.31)

638.03 (203.42)

738.20 (237.31)

762.30 (232.53)

Spontaneous labour (%)

88.0

92.8

91.7

80.0

Vaginal delivery (%)

83.8

84.5

85.4

81.0

Presence of intrapartum complications (%)

18.1

17.5

15.6

21.9

Percentage of male babies

59.5

64.9

58.3

55.2

Weight of the baby at birth, mean (SD) in grams

3001.63 (374.86)

3019.43 (381.51)

3004.17 (376.39)

2959.24 (357.71)

Perception of recalled labour pain VAS score, mean (SD)

8.84 (1.73)

8.83 (1.83)

8.91 (1.65)

8.78 (1.75)

  1. a Had some missing values (n = 281).
  2. bWomen who were given an emergency caesarean section without full dilatation of the cervix were excluded (n = 283).
  3. There were no statistical differences between the groups at p < 0.05 except for the length of the first stage and spontaneous labour (p < 0.01).
  4. Note: The details of the women who received mixed support, from their husband as well as a female friend (n = 11), are not shown separately in this table due to the small sample size.