HMN 2025: How More expectant mothers in Australia are accessing prenatal care

More expectant moms are accessing prenatal care, in keeping with new information and long-term traits that paint an image of the well being and beginning outcomes of moms and infants in Australia.

“In 2023, 79% of ladies who gave beginning accessed prenatal care within the first trimester of their {pregnancy}—a rise from 61% a decade in the past in 2013,” AIHW spokesperson Louise Catanzariti mentioned.

Released at this time by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), the report, “Australia’s moms and infants,” additionally reveals the typical age of ladies who gave beginning has elevated over time.

“Our newest information reveals that moms are persevering with to present beginning later in life, with the typical age of ladies who gave beginning steadily growing from 28.9 years in 1998 to 31.3 years in 2023,” Catanzariti mentioned.

“Over time, the proportion of ladies giving beginning aged 35 and over has elevated from 23% in 2010 to twenty-eight% in 2023, whereas the proportion aged below 25 has decreased from 18% to 11%.”

In 2023, there have been 285,305 infants born, and the beginning price was 52 per 1,000 girls. This is the bottom beginning price within the interval from 1998, when AIHW began reporting this statistic, and continues a typically reducing pattern since 2007, when the beginning price was 66 per 1,000 girls.

In 2023, nearly all births in Australia passed off in hospitals (97%). Of these, 3 in 4 moms gave beginning in a public hospital. A small variety of births passed off in beginning facilities (1.5%), at residence (0.7%), or in different settings (0.7%).

“The information we gather and publish, supplied by each public and personal hospitals in addition to different beginning attendants throughout the nation, give us insights on the beginning outcomes for moms and infants, together with how elements like maternal age, technique of beginning, and birthweight have modified over time,” Catanzariti mentioned.

Pregnancy and beginning

The price of ladies giving beginning by cesarean part rose yearly from 2004 (29%) to 2023 (41%).

The report additionally comprises new information from Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia on the kinds of maternity care girls use.

Public hospital maternity care was the commonest model of care, utilized by 45% of ladies who gave beginning.

Around 1 in 9 girls (11%) had the identical midwife all through their care utilizing a midwifery group practice model, whereas 24% had continuity of caregiver by different models, principally personal obstetrician care.

Health of infants

The information additionally present outcomes for a child after beginning, together with gestational age, birthweight, Apgar rating at 5 minutes after beginning, resuscitation, child’s hospital size of keep and admission to particular care nurseries or neonatal intensive care items in 2023.

The median gestational age—the period of {pregnancy} in accomplished weeks—was 39 weeks, which has been steady since 2004.

Most infants (91%) in Australia had been born at time period (37–41 weeks), with 31% born at early time period (37 or 38 weeks) and 60% at full time period (39–41 weeks).

“Fewer than 1 in 10 infants (8.4%) had been born pre-term, and of those, the bulk had been born between 32 and 36 accomplished weeks,” Catanzariti mentioned.

“More than 9 in 10 (92%) liveborn infants had been born with a standard birthweight. This proportion has been comparable since 2010, ranging between 92% in 2010 and 93% in 2021.

“Behind the info are actual experiences, together with these of households who might face complicated or distressing outcomes. These experiences are deeply private and infrequently carry lasting impacts.”

According to information from the National Perinatal Data assortment (NPDC), the perinatal mortality price in 2023 was 11.0 deaths per 1,000 births. Of these deaths, 4 in 5 had been stillbirths (8.7 deaths per 1,000 births), and the rest had been neonatal deaths (2.3 deaths per 1,000 stay births).

The neonatal loss of life price has remained comparatively steady lately, ranging between 2.2 and a couple of.9 per 1,000 stay births since 2010.

The stillbirth price in 2023, at 8.7 per 1,000 births, is a continuation of accelerating stillbirth charges noticed lately. Factors contributing to the rise within the stillbirth price might embrace a real improve within the variety of stillbirths, and legislative adjustments resulting in each better visibility of perinatal deaths and expanded entry to terminations which can be within the scope of the NPDC.

The AIHW is working with jurisdictions to research these traits and can conduct additional exploration and evaluation as soon as extra detailed information from the National Perinatal Mortality Data Collection (NPMDC) can be found, later this yr.