AIHW

Perinatal statistics series

Australia’s mothers and babies 2012

In 2012, 307,474 women gave birth to 312,153 babies in Australia. This was an increase of 10,343 births (3.4%) from that reported in 2011, and a total increase of 21.5% since 2003. Nationally, the proportion of teenage mothers (younger than 20) declined from 3.7% in 2011 to 3.6% in 2011, compared with 4.6% in 2003.

Australia’s mothers and babies 2012

PERINATAL STATISTICS SERIES Number 30

Australia’s mothers and babies 2012

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Canberra Cat. no. PER 69

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare is a major national agency which provides reliable, regular and relevant information and statistics on Australia’s health and welfare. The Institute’s mission is authoritative information and statistics to promote better health and wellbeing.

© Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and University of New South Wales 2014 This product, excluding the AIHW logo, Commonwealth Coat of Arms and any material owned by a third party or protected by a trademark, has been released under a Creative Commons BY 3.0 (CC-BY 3.0) licence. Excluded material owned by third parties may include, for example, design and layout, images obtained under licence from third parties and signatures. We have made all reasonable efforts to identify and label material owned by third parties. You may distribute, remix and build upon this work. However, you must attribute the AIHW as the copyright holder of the work in compliance with our attribution policy available at . The full terms and conditions of this licence are available at . Enquiries relating to copyright should be addressed to the Head of the Digital and Media Communications Unit, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, GPO Box 570, Canberra ACT 2601.

This publication is part of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s perinatal statistics series. A complete list of the Institute’s publications is available from the Institute’s website . ISSN 1321-8336 ISBN 978-1-74249-672-6 Suggested citation Hilder L, Zhichao Z, Parker M, Jahan S, Chambers GM 2014. Australia’s mothers and babies 2012. Perinatal statistics series no. 30. Cat. no. PER 69. Canberra: AIHW. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Board Chair Dr Mukesh C Haikerwal AO

Any enquiries about or comments on this publication should be directed to: Digital and Media Communications Unit Australian Institute of Health and Welfare GPO Box 570 Canberra ACT 2601 Tel: (02) 6244 1000 Email: [email protected] Published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare This publication is printed in accordance with ISO 14001 (Environmental Management Systems) and ISO 9001 (Quality Management Systems). The paper is sourced from sustainably managed certified forests.

Please note that there is the potential for minor revisions of data in this report. Please check the online version at for any amendments.

Contents Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................................. vi Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................... vii Symbols ............................................................................................................................................. viii Summary .............................................................................................................................................. ix 1

Introduction....................................................................................................................................1 Purpose of this report ....................................................................................................................1 National Perinatal Data Collection ..............................................................................................1 Collection of perinatal data by states and territories .........................................................1 Collation of national perinatal data ......................................................................................1 Structure of the National Perinatal Data Collection...........................................................2 Data quality, presentation and interpretation issues ................................................................3 Which births are counted? .....................................................................................................3 Small numbers .........................................................................................................................4 Quality of data for reporting Indigenous status .................................................................4 Australian Capital Territory births include mothers resident in New South Wales .....4 Data from Victoria are not final ............................................................................................5 Neonatal deaths data may be incomplete ...........................................................................5 Maternal information about multiple births .......................................................................5 National Perinatal Data Development Committee ............................................................5

2

Summary of births and women who gave birth in 2012 ........................................................6

3

Mothers ...........................................................................................................................................9 Demographic profile ......................................................................................................................9 Maternal age ............................................................................................................................9 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander mothers ...........................................................11 Geographical location of the mother’s usual residence ...................................................13 Maternal characteristics...............................................................................................................18 Parity .......................................................................................................................................18 Previous caesarean sections .................................................................................................21 Assisted reproductive technology ......................................................................................22 Antenatal period...........................................................................................................................22 Antenatal visits ......................................................................................................................22 Duration of pregnancy at the first antenatal visit.............................................................24

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Smoking during pregnancy .................................................................................................25 Body mass index ...................................................................................................................28 Labour and birth characteristics.................................................................................................29 Place of birth ..........................................................................................................................29 Duration of pregnancy .........................................................................................................30 Multiple pregnancy ..............................................................................................................32 Onset and type of labour......................................................................................................33 Pain relief during labour and operative delivery .............................................................37 Presentation at birth..............................................................................................................42 Method of birth .....................................................................................................................43 Perineal status after vaginal birth .......................................................................................53 Pre-existing and pregnancy-related medical conditions .................................................54 Women who gave birth in hospitals..........................................................................................56 Hospitals and birth centres ..................................................................................................56 Hospital sector .......................................................................................................................57 Admitted patient election status .........................................................................................58 Method of birth and hospital sector ...................................................................................58 Length of stay in hospital.....................................................................................................61 Mode of separation from hospital ......................................................................................64 Homebirths ...................................................................................................................................65 4

Babies ............................................................................................................................................66 Demographic profile ....................................................................................................................66 Birth status .............................................................................................................................66 Month of birth .......................................................................................................................67 Sex ...........................................................................................................................................68 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies ....................................................................69 Outcomes .......................................................................................................................................71 Gestational age ......................................................................................................................71 Birthweight ............................................................................................................................74 Presentation at birth..............................................................................................................79 Method of birth .....................................................................................................................79 Apgar scores ..........................................................................................................................82 Resuscitation at birth ............................................................................................................82 Admission to special care nurseries or neonatal intensive care units ...........................84

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Hospital births ..............................................................................................................................84 Length of stay in hospital of birth.......................................................................................84 Mode of separation from hospital ......................................................................................87 5

Perinatal mortality ......................................................................................................................88 Definitions .....................................................................................................................................88 Baby deaths ...................................................................................................................................89 Fetal deaths ...................................................................................................................................90 Neonatal deaths ............................................................................................................................92 Perinatal deaths ............................................................................................................................93 Causes of perinatal deaths ...................................................................................................94

Appendix A: State and territory perinatal data collections, contacts and recent reports ..........................................................................................................................104 Appendix B: Collection and collation of data for the National Perinatal Data Collection ....................................................................................................................108 Appendix C: Perinatal National Minimum Data Set items......................................................109 Appendix D: Data quality statement National Perinatal Data Collection for 2012 .............111 Appendix E: Data used in figures .................................................................................................115 Glossary..............................................................................................................................................117 References ..........................................................................................................................................121 List of tables ......................................................................................................................................122 List of figures ....................................................................................................................................126 Related publications ........................................................................................................................127

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Acknowledgments Lisa Hilder, Zou Zhichao, Michael Parker, Shamshad Jahan and Georgina Chambers of the National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit (NPESU), a collaborating centre of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), wrote this report. The NPESU is a formally affiliated institution of the University of New South Wales, School of Women’s and Children’s Health, Faculty of Medicine. The NPESU values the time, effort and expertise contributed by all states and territories, in particular maternity staff, in collecting and providing the data used in this report. We would like to acknowledge the staff members of the state and territory health authorities who provided data and reviewed the tables: •

Lee Taylor, Tim Harrold and Kim Lim, Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence, NSW Ministry of Health

•

Vickie Veitch, Diana Stubbs and Gemma Wills (currently) and Danielle Cosgriff (formerly) at the Clinical Councils Unit, Health Service Program, Department of Health, Victoria

•

Sue Cornes, Joanne Ellerington, Vesna Dunne, Neil Gardiner and Ben Wilkinson, Health Statistics Branch, Department of Health, Queensland

•

Maureen Hutchinson, Alan Joyce and Tony Satti, Maternal and Child Health Unit, Data Integrity Directorate, Department of Health, Western Australia

•

Wendy Scheil, Kevin Priest and Joan Scott, Pregnancy Outcome Unit, Department of Health, South Australia

•

Peter Mansfield, Cynthia Rogers and Peter Russell, Data Standards and Integrity Unit, Department of Health and Human Services, Tasmania

•

Rosalind Sexton, Louise Freebairn, Wayne Anderson and Leah Newman, Epidemiology Section, ACT Health

•

Leanne O’Neil and Karen Dempsey, Department of Health and Families, Northern Territory.

Within the AIHW, Kathy Southgate and Laura Pritchard assisted in database management.

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Abbreviations ABS

Australian Bureau of Statistics

ACT

Australian Capital Territory

AIHW

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

ART

assisted reproductive technology

ASGC

Australian Standard Geographical Classification

BMI

body mass index

IPPV

intermittent positive pressure ventilation

kg

kilogram

m2

metres squared

METeOR

Metadata Online Registry

mmHg

millimetres of mercury

NHDD

National health data dictionary

NICU

neonatal intensive care unit

NMDS

National Minimum Data Set

NPDC

National Perinatal Data Collection

NPESU

AIHW National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit

NSW

New South Wales

NT

Northern Territory

PSANZPDC

Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand Perinatal Death Classification

Qld

Queensland

SA

South Australia

SACC

Standard Australian Classification of Countries

SCN

special care nursery

Tas

Tasmania

Vic

Victoria

WA

Western Australia

WHO

World Health Organization

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Symbols —

nil or rounded to zero

..

not applicable