Characteristics of the study participants
| Characteristics | Overall | No sepsis | Sepsis | P value |
| n | 2628 | 2331 | 297 | |
| Admission | ||||
| Gestational age (weeks) | 38.0 (2.5) | 38.0 (2.5) | 38.4 (2.3) | 0.005 |
| Birth weight (g) | 2890 (700) | 2880 (720) | 2950 (600) | 0.07 |
| Sex (%) | 0.7 | |||
| Male | 1503 (57) | 1338 (57) | 165 (56) | |
| Female | 1122 (43) | 990 (42) | 132 (44) | |
| Unsure | 3 (0.1) | 3 (0.1) | 0 (0) | |
| Type of birth (%) | 0.03 | |||
| Singleton | 2496 (95) | 2205 (95) | 291 (98) | |
| First-born twin | 127 (5) | 121 (5) | 6 (2) | |
| First-born triplet | 2 (<0.1) | 2 (<0.1) | 0 (0) | |
| Mode of delivery (%) | 0.07 | |||
| SVD | 1889 (72) | 1663 (71) | 226 (76) | |
| Elective C-section | 136 (5) | 124 (5) | 12 (4) | |
| Emergency C-section | 561 (21) | 510 (22) | 51 (17) | |
| Instrumental | 42 (1.6) | 34 (1.5) | 8 (2.7) | |
| Postnatal age (%) | <0.001 | |||
| <2 hours of life | 1001 (38) | 901 (39) | 100 (34) | |
| 2–24 hours of life | 1257 (48) | 1136 (49) | 121 (41) | |
| 24–48 hours of life | 235 (9) | 181 (8) | 54 (18) | |
| 48–72 hours of life | 110 (4) | 91 (4) | 19 (7) | |
| Outcome | ||||
| Antibiotics (%) | 1141 (43) | 874 (37) | 267 (90) | <0.001 |
| Admission duration (days) | 2.3 [1.3–4.9] | 2.1 [1.2–4.1] | 6.0 [3.5–8.8] | <0.001 |
| Death (%) | 221 (8) | 184 (8) | 37 (12) | 0.008 |
Data are presented as mean (SD), n (%) or median [quartile 1 to quartile 3]. P values are from Welch’s two-sample t-test for gestational age and birth weight; the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney U test for admission duration; Pearson’s χ2 test for postnatal age at admission, antibiotics and death; and Fisher’s exact test for sex, type of birth and mode of delivery. Summary statistics are presented for the observed data only, before multiple imputation of missing values.
C-section, caesarean section; SVD, spontaneous vaginal delivery.