Table 2 Characteristics of women and births in intervention and comparison communities, compared with all women and births in PRISM areas
| Â | PRISM | (I) N = 6248 | PRISM | (C) N = 5057 | All births N = 20,333 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | N | % | N | % | N | % |
Place of residence | ||||||
Rural | 4035 | 64.6 | 3475 | 68.7 | 13352 | 65.7 |
Metropolitan | 2213 | 35.4 | 1582 | 31.3 | 6981 | 34.3 |
Maternal age (years) | ||||||
<20 | 100 | 1.6 | 56 | 1.1 | 734 | 3.6 |
20-24 | 574 | 9.2 | 383 | 7.6 | 2593 | 12.8 |
25–29 | 1735 | 27.8 | 1332 | 26.3 | 282 | 30.9 |
30–34 | 2371 | 37.9 | 1990 | 39.4 | 966 | 34.3 |
>34 | 1346 | 21.5 | 1205 | 23.8 | 3757 | 18.5 |
Missing | 122 | 2.0 | 91 | 1.8 | 1 | 0.0 |
Highest education level | ||||||
Degree | 1602 | 25.6 | 1508 | 29 8 | NA†| NA |
Diploma/Apprenticeship | 1864 | 29.8 | 1392 | 27.5 | Â | Â |
Completed secondary | 1203 | 19.3 | 922 | 18 3 | Â | Â |
Did not complete | 1538 | 24.6 | 1199 | 23.7 | Â | Â |
Missing | 41 | 0.7 | 36 | 0.7 | Â | Â |
Marital status | ||||||
Married | 4903 | 78.5 | 4129 | 81.6 | 4690 | 72.2 |
Living with partner | 956 | 15.3 | 677 | 13.4 | 2999 | 14.7 |
Single | 253 | 4.0 | 154 | 3.0 | 2377 | 11.7 |
Separated/Widowed/Divorced | 120 | 1.9 | 74 | 1.5 | 249 | 1.2 |
Missing | 16 | 0.3 | 23 | 0.5 | 18 | 0.1 |
Family income before tax | ||||||
≤ $30,000 [AUD] | 1303 | 20.9 | 879 | 17.4 | NA | NA |
$30,000 to < $70,000 | 3066 | 49.1 | 2394 | 47.3 | Â | Â |
>$70,000 | 1566 | 25.1 | 1498 | 29.6 | Â | Â |
Missing | 313 | 5.0 | 286 | 5.7 | Â | Â |
Country of birth/language | ||||||
Australia | 5481 | 87.7 | 4315 | 85.3 | 16999 | 83.6 |
Other English-speaking | 485 | 7.8 | 338 | 6.7 | 1373 | 6.8 |
Other non-English speaking | 265 | 4.2 | 379 | 7.5 | 1945 | 9.6 |
Missing | 17 | 0.3 | 25 | 0.5 | 26 | 0.1 |
Gestation length in weeks | ||||||
20–27 | 18 | 0.3 | 15 | 0.3 | 62 | 0.6 |
28–31 | 37 | 0.6 | 21 | 0.4 | 131 | 0.6 |
32–36 | 349 | 5.6 | 294 | 5.8 | 1110 | 5.5 |
37–41 | 5600 | 89.6 | 4524 | 89.5 | 8731 | 92.1 |
>41 | 130 | 2.1 | 81 | 1.6 | 295 | 1.5 |
Missing | 114 | 1.8 | 122 | 2.4 | 4 | 0.0 |
Parity | ||||||
Primiparous | 2704 | 43.3 | 2238 | 44.3 | 8274 | 40.7 |
Multiparous | 3533 | 56.5 | 2803 | 55.4 | 12059 | 59.3 |
Missing | 11 | 0.2 | 16 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.0 |
Private health insurance‡ | ||||||
Medicare only | 3957 | 63.3 | 3054 | 60.4 | 14004 | 68.9 |
Private cover | 2254 | 36.1 | 1960 | 38.8 | 6329 | 31.1 |
Missing | 37 | 0.6 | 43 | 0.9 | 0 | 0.0 |
Postnatal length of stay | ||||||
<24 hours | 173 | 2.8 | 142 | 2.8 | NA | NA |
1–2 days | 960 | 15.4 | 702 | 13.9 |  |  |
3–4 days | 2326 | 37.2 | 1845 | 36.5 |  |  |
>4 days | 2771 | 44.4 | 2355 | 46.6 | Â | Â |
Not available | 17 | 0.3 | 5 | 0.1 | Â | Â |
Missing | 1 | 0.0 | 8 | 0.2 | Â | Â |
Type of birth | ||||||
Spontaneous vaginal | 3830 | 61.3 | 2972 | 58.8 | 12740 | 61.6 |
Forceps/vacuum | 937 | 15.0 | 814 | 16.1 | 2799 | 13.8 |
Elective Caesarean | 821 | 13.1 | 706 | 14.0 | 2745 | 13.5 |
Emergency Caesarean | 634 | 10.1 | 540 | 10.7 | 2381 | 11.7 |
Missing | 26 | 0.0 | 25 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
Infant birth-weight | ||||||
<2500 g | 343 | 5.4 | 215 | 4.3 | 1274 | 6.2 |
2500–3999 g | 4909 | 77.4 | 3981 | 78.7 | 16803 | 81.3 |
≥ 4000 g | 890 | 14.0 | 664 | 13.1 | 2588 | 12.5 |
Missing | 204 | 3.2 | 197 | 3.9 | 1 | 0.0 |