Hospital and sociodemographic characteristics by gestational age for singleton live births
| 37 weeks (n=2162) | 38 weeks (n=6082) | 39–40 weeks (n=10 408) | P value* | |
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||
| Capacity of hospital | ||||
| No intensive or intermediate neonatal care unit | 319 (14.8) | 1207 (19.8) | 1778 (17.1) | 0.034 |
| Neonatal intermediate care unit only | 435 (20.1) | 1241 (20.4) | 2272 (21.8) | |
| Neonatal intensive care unit | 1408 (65.1) | 3634 (59.8) | 6358 (61.1) | |
| Baby-friendly initiative hospital | ||||
| Yes | 688 (31.8) | 1674 (27.5) | 3597 (34.6) | <0.001 |
| No | 1474 (68.2) | 4416 (72.6) | 6812 (65.4) | |
| Type of payment for birth | ||||
| Public | 1593 (73.7) | 4421 (72.7) | 8549 (82.1) | <0.001 |
| Private | 569 (26.3) | 1661 (27.3) | 1860 (17.9) | |
| Age | ||||
| 12–19 | 383 (17.7) | 1034 (17) | 1945 (18.7) | <0.001 |
| 20–34 | 1524 (70.5) | 4301 (70.7) | 7495 (72) | |
| ≥35 | 254 (11.7) | 747 (12.3) | 969 (9.3) | |
| Years of schooling | ||||
| ≤7 | 477 (22.1) | 1683 (27.7) | 2627 (25.2) | <0.001 |
| 8–10 | 530 (24.5) | 1345 (22.1) | 2817 (27.1) | |
| 11–14 | 915 (42.3) | 2389 (39.3) | 4062 (39) | |
| ≥15 | 240 (11.1) | 665 (10.9) | 903 (8.7) | |
| Previous births | ||||
| Nulliparous | 1026 (47.5) | 2679 (44) | 4925 (47.3) | 0.015 |
| 1–2 | 922 (42.6) | 2723 (44.8) | 4508 (43.3) | |
| ≥3 | 215 (9.9) | 679 (11.2) | 975 (9.4) | |
| Previous caesarean section† | ||||
| No | 683 (60.1) | 1888 (55.5) | 3294 (60.1) | 0.001 |
| Yes | 453 (39.9) | 1515 (44.5) | 2189 (39.9) | |
| Previous stillbirth or neonatal death† | ||||
| No | 1042 (91.8) | 3156 (92.7) | 5179 (94.5) | 0.002 |
| Yes | 94 (8.3) | 247 (7.3) | 304 (5.5) | |
| Any medical condition | 596 (27.6) | 1359 (22.3) | 2145 (20.6) | <0.001 |
| Hypertensive disorders‡ | 333 (15.4) | 625 (10.3) | 898 (8.6) | <0.001 |
| Eclampsia | 15 (0.7) | 24 (0.4) | 41 (0.4) | 0.125 |
| Pre-existing diabetes | 27 (1.2) | 63 (1.0) | 96 (0.9) | 0.438 |
| Gestational diabetes | 206 (9.5) | 459 (7.5) | 833 (8.0) | 0.068 |
| Other severe chronic diseases§ | 26 (1.2) | 60 (1.0) | 74 (0.7) | 0.092 |
| Infection at hospital admission for birth | 4 (0.2) | 19 (0.3) | 22 (0.2) | 0.370 |
| Abruptio placentae | 18 (0.8) | 56 (0.9) | 97 (0.9) | 0.946 |
| Placental praevia | 10 (0.5) | 28 (0.5) | 37 (0.4) | 0.568 |
| Intrauterine growth restriction | 119 (5.5) | 273 (4.5) | 457 (4.4) | 0.263 |
| Precursors of birth | ||||
| Spontaneous¶ | 1219 (56.4) | 3213 (52.8) | 6179 (59.4) | <0.001 |
| Vaginal (1) | 932 (76.5) | 2484 (77.3) | 4933 (79.8) | 0.024 |
| Caesarean (2) | 287 (23.5) | 729 (22.7) | 1246 (20.2) | |
| Provider initiated | 942 (43.6) | 2869 (47.2) | 4230 (40.6) | |
| Vaginal induced (3) | 65 (6.9) | 164 (5.7) | 419 (9.9) | <0.001 |
| Caesarean (4) | 877 (93.1) | 2705 (94.3) | 3811 (90.1) | |
| Mode of birth | ||||
| Vaginal (1 and 3) | 998 (46.2) | 2647 (43.5) | 5352 (51.4) | <0.001 |
| Caesarean (2 and 4) | 1164 (53.8) | 3434 (56.5) | 5057 (48.6) | |
*χ2 tests.
†Only live births from multiparous women. n=1136 (37 weeks); 3403 (38 weeks); 5483 (39–40 weeks).
‡Chronic hypertension, pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome.
§Chronic cardiac diseases (other than hypertension), chronic renal diseases and autoimmune diseases.
¶Spontaneous onset of labour or premature rupture of membranes.
HELLP, haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low Platelet count.