Obesity May Be Protective against Severe Perineal Lacerations

Table 1

Demographics and clinical characteristics of the study sample ().

Demographic or clinical characteristic	No laceration	Laceration
Maternal age (y)	28.6 ± 6.1	29.0 ± 6.0	NS
Marital status			0.02
Married	376 (62.2)	387 (64.0)
Single/never married	215 (35.5)	188 (31.0)
Other	14 (2.3)	30 (5.0)
Race/ethnicity			<0.0001
Caucasian	241 (39.8)	228 (37.7)
African American	85 (14.1)	66 (10.9)
Hispanic	151 (25.0)	101 (16.7)
Asian	87 (14.4)	145 (24.0)
Other	41 (6.7)	65 (10.7)
Smoking			NS
No	551 (91.1)	572 (94.6)
Prior	20 (3.3)	11 (1.8)
Current	17 (2.8)	11 (1.8)
Unknown	17 (2.8)	11 (1.8)
Obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m^2)	261 (43.0)	211 (34.9)	0.0032
Parity			<0.0001
Multiparity	316 (52.2)	140 (23.2)
Nulliparity	289 (47.8)	465 (76.8)
Oxytocin use	293 (48.4)	373 (61.7)	<0.0001
Estimated fetal weight ≥ 4000 g	13 (2.5)	24 (4.4)	NS
Birthweight ≥ 4000 g	32 (5.3)	77 (12.8)	<0.0001
Chronic hypertension	40 (6.6)	56 (9.3)	NS
Diabetes (all)	45 (7.5)	56 (9.3)	NS
Operative VD	1394 (6.6)	225 (37.2)	<0.0001
Shoulder dystocia	32 (5.3)	82 (13.6)	<0.0001
Second stage (hr)	1.3 ± 2.3	1.9 ± 2.1	<0.0001

BMI: body mass index.
VD: vaginal delivery.
NS = not significant.
Data are mean ± standard deviation or (%).
OVD calculated from overall acceptable group ().