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Table 2 Baseline characteristics of participants stratified by the prepregnancy BMI (n = 2009)

From: Socioeconomic disparities in prepregnancy BMI and impact on maternal and neonatal outcomes and postpartum weight retention: the EFHL longitudinal birth cohort study

 

Prepregnancy BMI

 

Underweight (BMI < 18.5)

Normal weight (BMI 18.5-24.99)

Overweight (BMI 25-29.99)

Obese (BMI ≥ 30)

Characteristics

(N=167)

(N= 1052)

(N= 430)

(N= 360)

p-value (two-sided)

Maternal Characteristics:

Maternal age (y)

     

  < 20

12 (7.3%)

48 (4.7%)

14 (3.3%)

11 (3.1%)

0.017*b

  20-24

49 (29.7%)

198 (19.2%)

69 (16.3%)

74 (21.0%)

  25-29

38 (23.0%)

293 (28.4%)

135 (31.8%)

99 (28.0%)

  30-34

33 (20.0%)

280 (27.2%)

119 (28.1%)

89 (25.2%)

  ≥ 35

33 (20.0%)

212 (20.6%)

87 (20.5%)

80 (22.7%)

  Missing data

2

21

6

7

Born in Australia

114 (68.3%)

733 (69.7%)

312 (72.6%)

259 (71.9%)

0.589

  Missing data

0

1

0

0

Maternal employment

     

  Employed

75 (46.3%)

564 (54.5%)

209 (49.2%)

169 (48.3%)

0.038*b

  Unemployed

26 (16.0%)

113 (10.9%)

42 (9.9%)

36 (10.3%)

  Not in-labour force

61 (37.7%)

358 (34.6%)

174 (40.9%)

145 (41.4%)

  Missing data

5

17

5

10

Marital status

     

  Single

15 (9.0%)

65 (6.2%)

20 (4.7%)

31 (8.6%)

0.001*b

  Dating relationship

14 (8.4%)

32 (3.1%)

17 (4.0%)

22 (6.1%)

  De facto

76 (45.5%)

382 (36.4%)

158 (37.0%)

126 (35.0%)

  Married

62 (37.1%)

557 (53.1%)

225 (52.7%)

175 (48.6%)

  Separate/Divorce/Widow

0 (0%)

13 (1.2%)

7 (1.6%)

6 (1.7%)

  Missing data

0

3

3

0

Maternal education level

     

  Primary school

2 (1.2%)

9 (0.9%)

4 (0.9%)

4 (1.1%)

<0.001*b

  Not complete secondary

37 (22.3%)

176 (16.8%)

85 (20.0%)

77 (21.5%)

  Secondary school

50 (30.1%)

301 (28.7%)

137 (32.2%)

129 (36.0%)

  TAFE/Trade

46 (27.7%)

306 (29.2%)

129 (30.3%)

107 (29.9%)

  University

31 (18.7%)

257 (24.5%)

71 (16.7%)

41 (11.5%)

  Missing data

1

3

4

2

Nutrition Factors:

    

Supplements Intake

     

  Iron

51 (30.5%)

301 (28.6%)

118 (27.4%)

67 (18.6%)

0.001*a-

  Zinc

37 (23.3%)

196 (19.8%)

80 (19.2%)

53 (15.4%)

0.039*a-

  Calcium

27 (16.2%)

139 (13.2%)

40 (9.3%)

32 (8.9%)

0.001*a-

  Folic acid

84 (52.5%)

511 (51.5%)

222 (53.0%)

166 (47.7%)

0.499

  Multivitamins

93 (55.7%)

548 (52.1%)

214 (49.8%)

140 (38.9%)

<0.001*a-

  Vitamin C

55 (34.6%)

337 (34.1%)

133 (32.0%)

80 (23.2%)

0.001*a-

  Vitamin E

113 (67.7%)

735 (69.9%)

280 (65.1%)

191 (53.1%)

<0.001*a-

  Pregnancy/breastfeeding sup.

38 (23.9%)

193 (19.6%)

91 (21.9%)

40 (11.5%)

0.004*a-

Household and Family Structure:

     

Partner’s employment

     

  Employed

142 (89.9%)

931 (93.7%)

392 (96.8%)

301 (90.7%)

0.017*b

  Unemployed

10 (6.3%)

37 (3.7%)

7 (1.7%)

17 (5.1%)

 

  Not in-labour force

6 (3.8%)

26 (2.6%)

6 (1.5%)

14 (4.2%)

 

  Missing data

9

58

25

28

 

Partner’s education level

     

  Primary school

4 (2.6%)

9 (0.9%)

5 (1.2%)

0 (0%)

<0.001*b

  Not complete secondary

33 (21.2%)

182 (18.2%)

89 (21.9%)

94 (28.6%)

  Secondary school

41 (26.3%)

243 (24.3%)

114 (28.0%)

89 (27.1%)

  TAFE/Trade

52 (33.3%)

421 (42.2%)

150 (36.9%)

120 (36.5%)

  University

26 (16.7%)

143 (14.3%)

49 (12.0%)

26 (7.9%)

 

  Missing data

11

54

23

31

 

Household ownership

    

  Own outright

6 (3.7%)

33 (3.2%)

3 (0.7%)

3 (0.8%)

<0.001*b

  Own with mortgage

52 (31.9%)

457 (44.3%)

189 (44.9%)

121 (34.1%)

  Private rent

72 (44.2%)

446 (43.2%)

193 (45.8%)

178 (50.1%)

  Public housing

5 (3.1%)

23 (2.2%)

7 (1.7%)

13 (3.7%)

  Board with parents

28 (17.2%)

73 (7.1%)

29 (6.9%)

40 (11.3%)

 

  Missing data

4

20

9

5

 

Number of children under 16 y (household)

    

  Nil

78 (47.3%)

413 (39.7%)

134 (31.6%)

115 (31.9%)

<0.001*a+

  1-3

83 (50.3%)

595 (57.2%)

279 (65.8%)

217 (60.3%)

  More than 3

4 (2.4%)

33 (3.2%)

11 (2.6%)

28 (7.8%)

  Missing data

2

11

6

0

Maternal Health and Behaviours During Pregnancy:

     

Maternal psychological distress

    

0.343

  Low risk

128 (77.6%)

853 (81.6%)

352 (83.0%)

280 (78.4%)

 

  Medium risk

30 (18.2%)

158 (15.1%)

64 (15.1%)

61 (17.1%)

  High risk

7 (4.2%)

34 (3.3%)

8 (1.9%)

16 (4.5%)

  Missing data

2

7

6

3

 

Smoke during pregnancy

59 (35.3%)

233 (22.2%)

109 (25.5%)

108 (30.3%)

<0.001*b

  Missing data

0

1

3

3

 

Alcohol intake

69 (41.3%)

536 (51.0%)

202 (47.4%)

137 (38.3%)

0.001*b

  Missing data

0

0

4

2

Non-medical drug usea

29 (17.6%)

98 (9.5%)

35 (8.3%)

42 (11.8%)

0.005*b

  Missing data

2

21

8

3

 

Birth-related Factors:

    

Primiparity

97 (58.8%)

674 (64.8%)

313 (73.5%)

267 (75.2%)

<0.001*a+

  Missing data

2

12

4

5

Baby gender (Male)

80 (48.5%)

527 (50.9%)

201 (47.2%)

182 (51.3%)

0.564

  Missing data

2

16

4

5

Pre-existing hypertension

0 (0%)

6 (0.7%)

3 (0.8%)

8 (2.4%)

0.021*a+

  Missing data

23

144

48

26

 
  1. *Significant at the 0.05 level.
  2. aTest for ordinal association using Gamma coefficient (+indicates a positive association; -indicates a negative association).
  3. bTest for association using chi-square test.