3.2
Data collection
Participants were identified from data collated by the Queensland Health, Health Statistics Centre. Data are collected by every maternity unit via the Queensland Perinatal Data Collection (PDC) form. This is a mandatory document which is completed for all women giving birth. 10 This document records demographic, reproductive, antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal information for both the woman and her newborn infant. Once ethical approval was received a request was made to extract the relevant data set. Variables included the development of disorders such as hypertensive disorders, diabetes and thromboembolism. Intrapartum variables included outcomes such as IOL, epidural use, operative birth rate and maternal complications. Neonatal outcomes included Apgar score, birth weight, gestation at birth, and admission to special care nursery (SCN). The Health Statistics Unit identified 163 women with a pre-pregnancy BMI of 40 or more.