Over the period 2001-2004, the perinatal death rate of babies
born to Indigenous mothers declined significantly (from 16 to 11
per 1,000 births). Despite this improvement, babies born to
Indigenous mothers still had twice the neonatal death rate of other
babies according to a new report released today by the Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, Indigenous mothers and their babies, Australia
2001-2004, shows that over the 2001-2004 period 35,264 women
who identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
origin gave birth to 35,682 babies - 3.6% of all babies born to all
women in Australia during this period.
Indigenous mothers were less likely to be first-time mothers
(30%) compared with non-Indigenous mothers (42%) and less likely
than in previous years to be teenage mothers.
'There was a significant drop (from 10% to 8%) in the number of
Indigenous teenage mothers over the period,' said Dr Elizabeth
Sullivan of the Institute's National Perinatal Statistics Unit.
While the report indicated that the health of Indigenous mothers
and babies is generally on the increase, it also noted that
Indigenous mothers were three times as likely to have smoked during
pregnancy in comparison to non-Indigenous mothers.
A woman who smokes while pregnant is at increased risk of
experiencing a wide range of problems including low birth-weight
and premature labour.
'Women who smoke are up to three times as likely to give birth
to a low birth-weight baby compared to non-smokers, and low
birth-weight babies are more vulnerable to short and long term
health problems' said Dr Sullivan.
Babies born to Indigenous mothers were twice as likely to be of
low birth-weight - 13% compared with 6% of live births among
non-Indigenous mothers.
The report showed that the proportion of low birth-weight babies
born to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous mothers increased
significantly, but the increase was greater among babies born to
Indigenous mothers.
Babies born to Indigenous mothers were almost twice as likely to
be born preterm - 4% compared with 8% for non-indigenous
mothers.
Indigenous mothers also had a higher proportion of spontaneous
onset of labour, and were less likely to have a caesarean
section.
This is the third report on the health of Indigenous mothers and
their babies.
24 October 2007
Further information: Dr Elizabeth Sullivan,
AIHW, tel. 02 9382 1014, mob. 0439 994 820.
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for the availability of Indigenous mothers and
their babies, Australia 2001-2004.