Overview

A newborn baby's health can be a key determinant of their health and wellbeing throughout life. Factors such as physical health, social wellbeing and exposure to harmful behaviours can influence health outcomes for both mothers and babies.

More reports and statistics on mothers & babies can be found under Children & youth and Men & women.

Latest findings

Women younger than 20 years were least likely to access antenatal care in the first trimester Regional PHN areas had an infant and young child mortality rate 1.3 times the rate of metropolitan PHN areas 1 in 5 women having their first baby vaginally without instruments had an episiotomy in 2016 More than 6 in 10 (65%) mothers attended at least one antenatal visit in the first trimester of pregnancy. The proportion of low birthweight babies was 5.0% with little difference between metropolitan and regional PHN areas The proportion of women who reported smoking during pregnancy was 10.4% 1 in 10 (9.5%) women smoked during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy in 2016 1 in 4 (26%) selected women had an instrumental vaginal birth for their first birth In 2016 almost 30% of selected women giving birth for the first time had a caesarean section

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Highlights