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Table 3 Mode of birth by country

From: Why 'down under' is a cut above: a comparison of rates of and reasons for caesarean section in England and Australia

Mode of birth

England (N = 5,250)

Queensland (N = 3,467)

OR~

95% CI

N

%

N

%

All Women

      

Vaginal Birth

3,930

74.9

2,213

63.8

  

Unassisted

3,269

62.3

1,830

52.8

  

Assisted

661

12.6

383

11.0

0.94

0.82-1.08

Caesarean Birth

1,320

25.1

1,254

36.2

1.44 ***

1.28-1.61

Intrapartum

677

12.9

524

15.1

1.14

1.00-1.30

Pre-labour onset

643

12.2

730

21.1

1.51 ***

1.31-1.73

Women without a previous Caesarean

    

Vaginal Birth

3,763

80.8

2,128

74.8

  

Unassisted

3,140

67.4

1,766

62.1

  

Assisted

623

13.4

362

12.7

0.98

0.85-1.13

Caesarean Birth

897

19.2

716

25.2

1.33 ***

1.18-1.50

Intrapartum

560

12.0

410

14.4

1.21 *

1.05-1.40

Pre-labour onset

337

7.2

306

10.8

1.36 ***

1.14-1.62

Women with a previous Caesarean

     

Vaginal Birth

167

28.3

85

13.7

  

Unassisted

129

21.9

64

10.3

  

Assisted

38

6.4

21

3.4

0.54 *†

0.31-0.94

Caesarean Birth

423

71.7

536

86.4

2.28 ***

1.69-3.06

Intrapartum

117

19.8

114

18.3

0.90

0.67-1.20

Pre-labour onset

306

51.9

424

68.1

1.87 ***

1.47-2.37

  1. Note. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001. ~ The odds for women in Queensland (relative to women in England) of having had the specified mode of birth, adjusted for parity, plurality, GDM, placental complications, hypertension/pre-eclampsia, and other risk factors. † The odds of assisted delivery did not differ between England and Queensland when examined only among vaginal births (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 0.59-2.06).