Australia’s mothers and babies 2009

Introduction

Australia’s mothers and babies (2009) cover

This data summarised below is provided to help you as a clinician or researcher understand the current trends in reproductive medicine within Australia.

The information is based upon data from the publication "Australia's mothers and babies 2009" and is provided for educational purposes only. The original full publication is available online from AIHW Perinatal statistics series no. 25.

| AIHW Perinatal statistics series no. 24 | AIHW National Perinatal Statistics Unit | Australia’s mothers and babies 2007

Summary

More births

Australia’s mothers and babies 2009 is the nineteenth annual report on pregnancy and childbirth in Australia providing national information on women who gave birth and the characteristics and outcomes of their babies.

• 2009 - 296,791 live births and 2,341 fetal deaths
• 2008 - 294,737 live births and 2,188 fetal deaths
• 2007 - 292,027 live births and 2,177 fetal deaths

Antenatal factors

Smoking while pregnant was reported by 14.5% of all mothers and by 37.0% of teenage mothers. In the 4 jurisdictions where data on the number of antenatal visits were available, 97.3% of women who gave birth at 32 weeks or more gestation attended at least one antenatal visit, with 91.9% attending 5 or more.

Indigenous mothers

Of women who gave birth during 2008, 3.8% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The average age of Indigenous mothers was 25.1 years, compared with 30.1 years for non-Indigenous mothers. Over half of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers reported smoking during pregnancy (50.9%), compared with 14.4% of non-Indigenous women who gave birth.

Labour and delivery

About 3.8% of women who gave birth during 2009 identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Indigenous mothers are younger than non-Indigenous mothers; their average age was 25.3 years, compared with 30.2 years for non-Indigenous mothers. Smoking during pregnancy was reported by half (49.6%) of Indigenous mothers. Of Indigenous mothers who gave birth at 32 weeks or more gestation, 76.8% attended 5 or more antenatal visits.

Baby outcomes

In 2009, 8.2% of babies were born preterm (before 37 completed weeks of gestation) and 0.9% post-term (42 weeks gestation or more). Overall, 6.2% of liveborn babies were of low birthweight (less than 2,500 grams) and this nearly doubled (10.8%) among mothers who smoking during pregnancy. Less than 1.5% of liveborn babies had a low Apgar score (measure of the baby’s condition at birth). The perinatal death rate was 9.8 per 1,000 births in 2009, which comprised fetal and neonatal death rates of 7.8 per 1,000 births and 3.0 per 1,000 live births respectively.

External Links

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