Indigenous women start their families at younger ages than other
women, have higher birth rates in their teenage years and early
twenties, and have more children, according to a report released
today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
Indigenous Mothers and their Babies, Australia
1994-1996 shows Indigenous mothers had an average of 2.2
children, compared with 1.8 among non-Indigenous women. The average
age of Indigenous mothers was 24 years compared with 28.6 years for
non-Indigenous mothers, and the proportion of teenage mothers
(23.1%) was almost five times higher than for other women
(4.8%).
Director of the AIHW National Perinatal Statistics Unit at the
University of New South Wales, Dr Paul Lancaster, said that
Indigenous women and their babies remained a high risk health
group.
'A significant problem is the low average birthweight of infants
born to Indigenous mothers - 216g less than that of other infants,'
Dr Lancaster said.
'Indigenous babies suffer death rates twice that of other babies
in Australia and low birthweight is a major factor in that
figure.'
The report also shows high caesarean rates among Indigenous
women in public hospitals, where about 97% of Indigenous mothers
give birth. Caesareans were performed on 1 in 8 Indigenous women
aged 15 to 19 years, 1 in 5 aged 30-34, and 1 in 4 aged 35-39
years.
'These rates are higher in all age groups than for other women
giving birth in public hospitals in Australia,' Dr Lancaster
said.
Other findings in Indigenous Mothers and their Babies,
Australia 1994-1996 include:
- During 1994-1996, birth rates of teenage Indigenous women and
those in their early 20s declined substantially.
- Babies born to Indigenous mothers during this period accounted
for 1 in 34 births in Australia.
- There is an increasing trend towards early discharge of
Indigenous mothers and their babies from hospital; the proportion
of Indigenous babies having hospital stays of less than 3 days
(29.9%) is nearly twice that of all other babies (17.6%).
6 August 1999
Further information: Dr Paul Lancaster, NPSU,
ph. 02 9382 1047 or 02 9382 1014.
For media copies of the report: Ms Lena Searle,
AIHW, ph. 02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for details.