Table 1 Comparison of women with low and high childbirth fear on characteristics by parity (N = 624)
| Â | NULLIPARAS | MULTIPARAS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  | Low/moderate fear (N = 278) | High fear (N = 93) |  | Low/moderate fear (N = 187) | High fear (N) = 65) |  |
| Â | % (N) | % (N) | p | % (N) | % (N) | p |
Maternal characteristics | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
Age > 35 | 13.3 (37) | 16.1 (15) | 0.498 | 31.6 (59) | 29.2 (19) | 0.727 |
Family Income | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
< $ BC Average | 26.6 (74) | 21.5 (20) | 0.326 | 37.4 (70) | 32.3 (21) | 0.459 |
Education | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 No university | 44.2 (123) | 46.2 (43) | 0.738 | 48.7 (91) | 52.3 (34) | 0.613 |
 University degree | 55.8 (155) | 53.8 (50) |  | 51.3 (96) | 47.7 (31) |  |
Lone parent | 2.2 (6) | 1.1 (1) | 0.506 | 2.1 (4) | 0 (0) | 0.235 |
Ethnicity | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Aboriginal | 1.5 (4) | 2.2 (2) | 0.065 | 1.7 (3) | 5.0 (3) | 0.363 |
 Caucasian | 91.6 (241) | 83.0 (73) |  | 90.3 (159) | 88.3 (53) |  |
 Asian | 6.9 (18) | 14.8 (13) |  | 8.0 (14) | 6.7 (4) |  |
Maternity care provider | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Midwife | 24.8 (69) | 20.4 (19) | 0.069 | 32.1 (60) | 10.8 (7) | < 0.001 |
 Family physician | 44.2 (123) | 35.5 (33) |  | 38.0 (71) | 30.7 (20) |  |
 Obstetrician | 31.0 (86) | 44.1 (41) |  | 29.9 (56) | 58.5 (38) |  |
Attended childbirth classes | 83.1 (231) | 84.9 (79) | 0.676 | 12.8 (24) | 12.3 (8) | 0.999 |
History of difficult labour and birth | NA | NA | NA | 46.5 (86) | 70.3 (45) | 0.001 |
History of upsetting labour and birth | NA | NA | NA | 28.6 (53) | 62.5 (40) | < 0.001 |
Maternal characteristics | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
Source of stressor - relationships | 23.0 (64) | 32.3 (30) | 0.076 | 47.3 (88) | 60.9 (39) | 0.060 |
Source of stressor – finances | 48.6 (135) | 51.6 (48) | 0.610 | 47.8 (89) | 62.5 (40) | 0.043 |
Source of stressor – housing | 18.0 (59) | 24.7 (23) | 0.157 | 14.5 (27) | 28.1 (18) | 0.015 |
Source of stressor – employment | 26.3 (73) | 38.7 (36) | 0.023 | 20.4 (38) | 32.8 (21) | 0.044 |
Source of stressor – education | 7.9 (22) | 2.2 (2) | 0.050 | 4.8 (9) | 9.4 (6) | 0.187 |
Source of stressor – health | 22.3 (62) | 35.5 (33) | 0.012 | 18.3 (34) | 43.8 (28) | < 0.001 |
Requesting a caesarean section | 1.1 (3) | 3.2 (3) | 0.155 | 11.3 (21) | 16.9 (11) | 0.241 |
Requesting a caesarean section, excluding women with a previous caesarean section | 1.1 (3) | 3.2 (3) | 0.155 | 1.4 (2) | 2.5 (1) | 0.641 |
Expecting obstetric interventions, excluding women with a previous caesarean section | 14.1 (39) | 18.5 (17) | 0.308 | 7.2 (10) | 30.0 (12) | < 0.001 |