Skip to main content

Table 1 Characteristics of partnered mothers, according to pregnancy intention. True counts and weighted proportions and means are shown

From: Unplanned pregnancy and subsequent psychological distress in partnered women: a cross-sectional study of the role of relationship quality and wider social support

 

All

Planned pregnancy

Unplanned Pregnancy

  

All

Happy

Ambiv.

Unhappy

N

12,462

8,119

4,343

3087

475

781

(weighted %)

(100)

(67.2)

(32.8)

(23.3)

(3.5)

(6.0)

Sociodemographic characteristics

Maternal age (yrs), mean (SD)

30.5 (5.3)

31.1 (4.7)

29.3 (6.0)***

29.2 (6.0)***

28.9 (6.3)***

30.0 (6.0)***

Ethnicity (BME)

8.6

7.3

11.2***

10.9****

14.1****

10.6**

Socioeconomic status

  

****

****

****

****

 Managerial/professional

54.3

60.2

42.3

43.7

33.2

42.3

 Intermediate

20.9

20.1

22.6

22.7

25.4

20.9

 Routine/Manual

22.9

18.1

32.5

31.3

38.6

33.7

 Long-term unempl/never

1.9

1.6

2.5

2.3

2.8

3.1

Education

  

****

****

****

****

 High (NVQ 4 + 5)

39.3

43.8

30.0

31.6

22.5

28.2

 Medium (NVQ 3)

15.0

14.7

15.7

16.4

14.7

13.8

 Low (NVQ1 + 2)

36.5

34.5

40.5

38.6

45.9

44.8

 Other/none of the above

9.2

7.0

13.8

13.4

17.0

13.2

Pregnancy-related factors

First child

40.3

41.2

38.5**

43.7

28.8****

24.1****

Gestation at confirmation of pregnancy, mean (SD)

7.1 (3.2)

6.7 (2.7)

7.8 (3.9)****

7.8 (3.7)****

8.7 (4.7)****

8.3 (4.2)****

Preterm birth

7.1

6.6

8.1**

7.9*

8.3

8.8

Multiple birth

1.6

1.8

1.2*

1.1*

1.3

1.5

Type of delivery

  

****

*

****

****

 Normal vaginal

66.0

64.3

69.6

67.3

76.5

74.3

 Instrumental

11.1

12.1

9.1

10.0

8.5

5.9

 Planned section

10.0

10.4

9.1

9.4

5.9

10.1

 Emergency section

12.8

13.2

12.2

13.3

9.1

9.8

Smoking in pregnancy

  

****

****

****

****

 None

71.4

76.4

61.1

63.1

54.6

57.3

 Gave up

12.6

11.1

15.5

15.8

14.9

14.8

 Kept smoking

16.0

12.4

23.4

21.1

30.6

28.0

Partnership characteristics

Relationship quality (mean GRIMS, SD): higher is better

28.0 (4.6)

28.4 (4.4)

27.3 (4.8)***

27.7 (4.7)***

26.5 (4.9) ***

26.0 (5.2) ***

Marital status (% married)

72.9

80.4

57.7****

58.8***

49.2***

58.2***

Social support

“No-one to share my feelings with”, % agree

5.3

4.5

6.9

5.6

10.2

10.0

“I have other parents I can talk to”, % disagree

9.3

8.1

11.6

10.4

14.5

14.2

“My family would help, if they could”, % disagree

5.9

5.8

6.1

5.0

4.8

11.2

Limited social contact - Sees friends or family < weekly

8.7

8.4

9.5

8.8

9.6

12.1**

Psychological Distress, modified Malaise Inventory score ≥4

Yes

11.6

9.6

15.6****

13.0****

21.4****

22.4****

  1. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; ****P < 0.0001 for chi-squared test, where compared to the Planned pregnancy group