Table 1 Demographic, psychosocial, pain, and obstetric characteristics comparing cohort of women receiving and avoiding epidural labor analgesia

Age (years)

30.6 (4.3)

30.1 (4.8)

0.69

Body mass index (kg/m²)

29.7 (6.0)

32.2 (5.3)

0.20

  1

14 [82.4]

43 [78.2]

0.99

  2

2 [11.8]

9 [16.4]

  3

1 [5.9]

2 [3.6]

  4

0 [0]

1 [1.8]

Estimated gestational age (weeks)

40 {0,40,40}

40{1,39,40}

0.23

  American Indian

0 [0]

2 [3.6]

0.99

  Asian

0 [0]

4 [7.3]

0.57

  African American

2 [11.8]

9 [16.4]

0.99

  White

16 [94.1]

44 [80]

0.27

  Other

0 [0]

1 [1.8]

0.99

  Hispanic/Latino

0 [0]

4 [7.4]

0.57

  Non-Hispanic/Latino

17 [100]

50 [92.6]

  Normal spontaneous vaginal delivery

15 [88.2]

41 [74.5]

0.95

  Assisted vaginal - forceps

0 [0]

0 [0]

  Assisted vaginal - vacuum

0 [0]

2 [3.6]

  Cesarean – non-reassuring fetus

1 [5.9]

3 [5.5]

  Cesarean - arrest of dilation/descent

1 [5.9]

7 [12.7]

  Cesarean - other

0 [0]

2 [3.6]

  None

5 [29.4]

16 [29.63]

0.99

  First Degree

3 [17.6]

8 [14.8]

  Second Degree

9 [52.9]

27 [50]

  Third Degree

0 [0]

2 [3.7]

  Fourth Degree

0 [0]

1 [1.8]

Duration of labor (hours)

15.7 (6.3)

18.6 (8.5)

0.19

 History of Anxiety or Depression

8 [50.00]

17 [30.9]

0.16

 History of Mental Illness

1 [6.25]

6 [10.9]

0.99

 EPDS Baseline

4 {6,1,7}

3 {6,1,7}

0.62

 EPDS 6 weeks

3 {5,2,7}

3 {5,1,6}

0.76

 EPDS 3 months

4.1 (3.6)

4.1 (3.8)

0.93

 Anxiety State (STAI/state)

33.1 (8.1)

34.1 (10.4)

0.72

 Anxiety Trait (STAI/trait)

33.2 (7.6))

33.6 (10.1)

0.86

 Resiliency (ER-89)

45.5 (5.9)

42.8 (6.3)

0.13

 Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)

10.5 (8.8)

10.5 (8.8)

0.99

 Perceived Social Support (PSS)

6.5 {0.8,5.9,6.7}

6.5 {1.3,5.8,7}

0.68

 Perceived Stress Scale (PSSc)

7 {0,7,7}

7 {0.8,6.3,7}

0.09

 Employed outside home, full-time

13 [76.5]

37 [67.2]

0.80

 Employed outside home, part-time

1 [5.9]

8 [14.5]

 Homemaker

2 [11.8]

3 [5.5]

 Retired

0 [0]

0 [0]

 Unemployed

1 [5.9]

5 [9.1]

 Other

0 [0]

2 [3.6]

 Single

2 [11.8]

15 [27.3]

0.40

 Married

15 [88.2]

39 [70.9]

 Widowed

0 [0]

0 [0]

 Divorced

0 [0]

1 [1.8]

 Baseline labor pain score (mm)

7.1 (4.6)

7.2 (7.1)

0.94

 Post-epidural analgesia average pain score (mm)

–

9.1 (5.6)

–

 Labor pain intensity max score (mm)

84.1 (14.4)

75.9 (23.0)

0.17

 Labor pain unpleasantness max score (mm)

86.3 (12.0)

77.9 (22.3)

0.14

 Labor pain intensity burden (AUC)

452.4 (316.2)

410.3 (240.3)

0.56

 Labor pain unpleasantness burden (AUC)

450.9 (675.4)

428.6 (276.1)

0.78

 Labor pain management satisfaction (score)

1.9 (0.6)

1.8 (0.4)

0.52

 Labor pain management expectation (score)

2.4 (0.9)

2.1 (0.7)

0.12