Sample demographics of the study group
| Characteristic | N=272 |
| Age (years) (median (range)) | 32 (17–47) |
| Ethnicity (n) (%) | |
| White British/Irish | 87 (32) |
| White other | 68 (25) |
| Black African | 44 (16) |
| Black Caribbean | 15 (6) |
| South Asian | 15 (6) |
| Mixed | 23 (8) |
| Other | 20 (7) |
| World region of birth (n) (%) | |
| Americas | 15 (5) |
| Asia | 16 (6) |
| Caribbean | 9 (3) |
| Europe (non-UK) | 64 (23) |
| Northern Africa | 1 (0.4) |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 38 (14) |
| Oceania | 6 (2) |
| UK | 122 (45) |
| Religion (n) (%) | |
| None | 100 (37) |
| Christian | 145 (53) |
| Muslim | 15 (6) |
| Hindu | 8 (3) |
| Buddhist | 1 (0.4) |
| Other | 3 (1) |
| Employment at beginning of pregnancy (n) (%) | |
| Unemployed | 76 (28) |
| Employed | 196 (72) |
| Years of education post age 16 years (n) (%) | |
| None | 32 (12) |
| <2 years | 65 (24) |
| >2 years | 170 (63) |
| Still in full-time education | 4 (1) |
| Marital status (n) (%) | |
| Married | 149 (55) |
| Single with partner | 109 (40) |
| Single (no partner) | 9 (3) |
| Single (partner status unknown) | 1 (0.4) |
| Separated | 2 (1) |
| Divorced | 2 (1) |
| Living with partner (n) (%) | |
| Yes | 218 (83) |
| No | 37 (14) |
| Some of the time | 7 (3) |
| First-time mothers* (n) (%) | |
| Yes | 141 (52) |
| No | 131 (48) |
| Children† (n) (%) | |
| 1 | 137 (50) |
| 2 | 81 (30) |
| 3 | 34 (13) |
| 4 | 17 (6) |
| 7 | 3 (1) |
Data are median (range) for age or n (%) for categorical variables.
Data were missing for country of birth (1) and years of education (1).
Employment includes part-time work and self-employment.
The total number of women considered in the ‘living with partner’ section is 261 excluding the 11 women who said they did not have a partner or were separated.
*Women who answered that they had no other children.
†There were four sets of twins and no other multiple births in our sample. This accounts for the difference in the number of first-time mothers and women with one child.